A different kind of adventure
by Phantomdream
Summary: A different turn of events has Naruto meeting Robin at a young age. Together they grow up slightly less lonely than before, sharing a single dream. But why is Naruto influenced by the poneglyph? And with the government chasing them can they ever truly depend on anyone but one another?
1. A meeting and the start of a friendship

Ok so I wrote this a few years ago in the summer. It's become quite long and honestly I wrote it mostly for myself. Now though I thought about seeing if any of you like it.

If any of you want me to continue posting chapters, I'll do so. Any tips on writing are welcome and appreciated. I probably won't implement ideas anytime soon in this story though as it's progressed beyond the 100K already. I will write them down though for the future though.

Update: A few small changes and added bits of story, just to get the story slightly smoother. Some spelling and grammar mistakes have also been rectified as it was just horrible to read at some points.

 **Chapter 1**

 **Deai soshite yūjō no hajimari**

He ran away.

No that's wrong, saying that would mean he had left willingly, no it hadn't been much of a choice. Naruto had been chased out and was now on the run, all because he was a half breed. At least that is what they said. It was the reason for why he was never allowed to play with the children, or enter any of the shops and pretty much everything else a kid would normally go. For as long as he could remember the people in Konoha hated him, they hated him for what he was and for what he might turn out to be capable of.

All his life Naruto had lived in a village full of shinobi. Such life is hard for everyone who takes a part in it. The code of conduct was harsh and morals are almost none existent. It wasn't in any way an easy way of living.

Konoha though was slightly different in what was supposedly the norm. In the elemental nations the land of fire was considered weak and outright foolish for holding on to what they themselves called the will of fire. The loyalty one has to their village and the determination to fight for it. The men there were loyal to their fellow shinobi. The woman could be just as strong and fierce as their husbands. Murder was frowned upon unless in self-defense and the civilians were treated with respect.

Everyone knew Konoha was different.

And yet despite that Naruto wasn't treated well. He'd never been able to wrap his head around it and even now he still didn't understand.

Not everyone acted this way where it concerned him. The leader of the village, the Hokage, was nice to him and somewhat of a grandfather figure to him. The man had always tried to help him in any way he could, but not even someone thought to be the god of shinobi could change the hearts of his people. The man was one of the only people in the village Naruto had been able to turn to. According to the old man his mother had been a half breed just like him, while his father had been a human. That was pretty much everything he knew about them though. Whenever they would talk about the couple the old man would get this far away look and sigh, he would look so forlorn that Naruto wouldn't have the guts to pry for an answer.

His time in the village hadn't been only bad things though. Living in a shinobi village did have its perks. The library was full of cool jutsu and information, though book weren't really his thing.

Now the training grounds though, that was something else entirely.

When Naruto started the shinobi academy several years early he had been excited beyond compare. He'd finally make his mark on the world and show them just how awesome he could be!

That quickly turned into disappointment as teachers refused to help him with his work and the other kids avoided him as their parents had told them to. A place to learn quickly turned into another area in the village he would gladly avoid. Despite that it had been the academy that lead him to a number of training ground in Konoha. Several of which hadn't been disclosed to civilians and pre-genin.

It had happened when he followed one of the teachers from the academy to prank him. The man had taken a route Naruto himself hadn't really noticed before. Of course that in itself had been odd, he did know every corner of Konoha after all. But really though that hadn't been something he'd focused on for long.

For had been revealed to him was an entire other way of doing things. Apparently when one was of a higher rank they had regular get together to train in bigger groups. Whether in pairs, quadrants of even multiple team combined. The amount of techniques demonstrated was staggering. Now while Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to use most of them for a long time some of the techniques did make him a bit curious.

Observing them every day had quickly become one of his favorite past times. He'd gleamed hints as how to improve on his strengths and every now and he'd see something he could actually look up. A few rare times he'd made a successful attempt to listen in on a lecture about chakra control techniques. Though it had been more of an overview of thing they already knew. Still it had been very helpful for him.

It had definitely helped improve his stealth and speed. The two strengths Naruto was proud of, though nobody ever believed him when he said so.

Ever since Naruto was able to stand on two legs he had been quick, he could keep pace with some of the fastest in the village. He was pretty sure he could beat most shinobi if they didn't use that strange flickering technique. He never did know why but even without his speeds he was still slightly more gifted than the other children his age. Not in book smarts though! Never in theory. No, he could beat them with tactics, speed and just plain improvisation.

He wasn't even the strongest, he was strong for an eight-year-old, but any veteran could beat him if used their tactics and experience against him. But Naruto could keep them busy and he could use his speed to escape.

Despite being treated the way he was for something he could not control, he still loved Konoha. He swore to someday make them acknowledge him for who he was! Now though that wasn't possible anymore.

He had been chased out by a great group of people and some of them he'd even recognized as capable shinobi with influence in Konoha. What had actually forced him to turn his back on his old village had been the look in their eyes.

Naruto had always held some kind of hope that, just like Iruka, the people of Konoha would eventually come to see him for who he was. If he became Hokage he would have the chance to show everyone he wasn't some kind of monster! But when he saw their eyes.

The same eyes that were filled with love and adoration as they fell on their spouse, their children, their family. The same that were said to be the windows to one's soul.

Now though Naruto didn't ever want to believe that last saying to be true because each and every one of those eyes were shadowed. Shadowed by the hatred, dislike and plain disgust they held for him. The emotions were so clearly expressed in their facial expression, their eyes and even in the weapons they held. They hated him and with this he himself could believe so too.

But why him? He hadn't done anything wrong, if he did he couldn't even remember it!

He'd cried the night he left, his few friends had come to say goodbye and good luck.

Luckily enough he was one of the fastest in Konoha and there wouldn't be anyone chasing after him. Either they thought he wasn't worth the attempt or he'd actually make them work for it.

After months of trying to survive and countless of meeting with dangerous people and shinobi, he finally reached the end of his nerves. He'd been on the run constantly with nowhere to go and Naruto knew he'd been extremely lucky to have even survived for so long but he was lonely and fed up with everything. Other villages did not accept him as his village Konoha was seen as one of the most powerful, but also one of the most disrespected and ridiculed.

They didn't want someone who was banished from there and be seen as their enemy. But at the same time they didn't believe as child from that place to turn into something worthy of their attention. It was the foremost reason he couldn't settle down anywhere, they'd always find out and throw him out. And because of that he decided to leave the elemental nations and go into the outside world.

That is where his adventure would begin.

"Uhh, how long is this ocean going to keep on going, I've been walking for days!" Shouted Naruto over the blue horizon as he listened to the waves. He had definitely been walking for days and hardly had any more food or water. It was surprising how painful it is to have no water to drink while walking in a place with only water. Well he wasn't taking a chance and drinking seawater, but it was still frustrating.

Over the last few days he'd been running over the sea nonstop. Knowing the old man in a village of shinobi had been useful. The Hokage had caught on to his huge amount of reserves in chakra quickly and showed him multiple ways to improve his control. He'd explained that chakra was the energy by which shinobi could use their amazing techniques. Naruto had grown up seeing the amazing things all the ninja could do and had always yearned to do the same. When the old man actually started helping him with he found out it was hard work.

He complained a lot about it, after all learning to stand on water and climb trees was cool but he wanted to be the Hokage. He didn't have time to learn all those stupid chakra techniques. He wanted to learn how to control fire or shoot a beam from his hands! Besides what kind of Hokage meditates! The old man should be taking him to help save a princess or two, maybe help a village on the way.

Eventually he had gotten told off and the importance of chakra control was drilled into his head. In the end he never gave up trying to learn them.

One of the techniques he learned was water walking and the amazing thing was that he learned it before he was of age to graduate. 'Not that I can ever graduate now.' Naruto thought sadly. He shook his head to chase away the negative thoughts and looked out over the never ending horizon.

"I really need to plan my ideas more." He mumbled as he kept walking but took on a more leisurely pace to spare the energy he had left. When he'd left the elemental nations he'd snuck onto a boat as it was about to leave. For several days everything had gone exactly according to plan. But a week into his journey he'd been a bit clumsy and tripped down the stairs as he ravaged for food.

Let's just say that particular boat wasn't very big and it didn't have quite as many hiding places as Naruto had first thought.

So it had turned into a hiking trip, hopefully with the end in sight somewhere soon.

It was finally after hours had passed that slowly but surely a bit of land came into sight. Naruto started running towards it before he even fully realized what it meant. The entire time he felt a small amount of hope. Maybe now he'd finally find a friends, someone he could spend time with.

When he finally reached the island he jumped onto the ground and collapsed immediately of fatigue and drifted into darkness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

She walked through the forest holding her book and went to sit down on an old tree trunk, opening her book to read. Ever since she was small Robin had loved to read, knowledge was something she yearned. Learning new things and knowing how something worked, what could ever be better than that?

Not everyone agreed though, her family treated her horribly and nearly everyone called her a monster. She knew why though, having these creepy powers. She shook her head to chase away the nasty thoughts and returned to her book. Before she had the chance to even read the first sentence though she felt something hard hit the side of her head.

"Yataah, we hit the monster!" She looked around and saw some of the villager kids on the other side of the clearing with food in their hands. She touched the side of her head and saw that her hands were red, it wasn't blood though. She smelled the substance briefly before recognizing it. It was a tomato, quite an old one.

Before she could do anything she was hit by another one, "haha, go back to where you came from monster, monsters like you don't deserve to be here!" She turned to the kids and glared at them. They flinched but quickly composed themselves and continued throwing things. After three more hits she had had enough and waved her hands in a circular gesture. As soon as she did so multiple hands appeared out of nowhere and gave each of the kids a soft slap on their heads before disappearing again.

The kids who had been hit were clutching their heads tightly. "Ouch! That hurt you demon! I'm gonna tell mom and you're gonna be in big trouble!" Ones of them shouted, the others saying something similar before running away. To be honest Robin couldn't care less about them and started to walk away.

After a couple of minutes of walking she finally reached 'her' house, it was at the edge of the forest so she didn't have to go through the village. She opened the door and entered the house, "Roji-obasan, sorry I'm late." She said politely. There was no answer, the lights were out and she heard nothing in the house. She shrugged a bit in disinterest and walked over to the table. Quite soon she noticed a note laying there written to her.

 _To Robin_

 _It's our daughter's birthday today, so we've decided to have a private dinner, with no outsiders. We have some bread, so eat that for your dinner. Don't use too much jam though. When you're done with your dinner, finish cleaning, wash the dishes, and bring in the laundry before we come home. Don't forget to go upstairs before it gets too late._

 _Roji_

Without looking at the note a second time she started her chores, it wasn't really anything new for her, ever since she was two she had been looked after by Roji because her mother had left without her. They already had a son and because of that they didn't pay her any attention. She was used as a maid around the house. After an hour of scrubbing she was done, she ate some bread and left the house and went into the forest.

Ever since she could remember she loved the forest, it was peaceful and she could be alone here without anyone interrupting her, well... Almost always. She continued her walk and stopped every now and then to check her surroundings for anything interesting. After about an hour of walking Robin arrived at the beach and sat down to read but before she started she'd noticed something lying on the beach. Not being able to see exactly what it was she stood up and walked over.

As soon as she came close enough to recognize what it was she gasped. It was a young boy about her age! He had sun kissed hair and three whiskers like scars on each cheek. His clothes weren't in their best shape but they also seemed very old and worn as if it was the only pair he had. She sat down next to him and checked his pulse. 'It's still there and strong so it doesn't seem like his life is in any danger.' It was a relieving though. She swung her arm and a lot of arms appeared in two rows lined up behind one another. The first arms picked the boy up and passed him onto the second arms, continuing the process until slowly they reached the forest, where they put him down.

As the arms moved the boy, she slowly followed them and observed him. She wondered what to do with him for bit before sitting down leaning against the tree right next to him. She observed him for a little while longer before opening her book and continuing to read.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto opened his sky colored eyes and looked around but before he was really aware of anything his instincts kicked in and he soon held a kunai against the neck of someone next to him. "Hiiiiiiii" was the first thing he heard. He looked up and realized it was just a girl. Someone around his age, normally he would have retracted his kunai but considering all that had happened in the last few months he kept it there until he was sure he could trust her. Better safe than sorry.

In Konoha, the village he grew up in, he'd only been taught how to defend himself for a bit. The old man didn't want to teach him besides the basic and very much needed chakra control. But the people in the elemental nations were very strong by origin, Naruto could defend himself easily against the civilians but for the more experienced he had to rely on speed and wit. After he'd been chased out it got worse, being chased all over and back had gotten him stronger and he'd acquired some experience. He could now put up a decent fight against a shinobi that wasn't considered strong in his home.

What he didn't know though was that the standards in the elemental nations were very high, even a normal civilian would be considered quite strong outside of the elemental nations.

"Where am I and who are you?" She looked nervous and tried to speak but he could see the kunai against her throat was a bit too much for her. Seeing as she didn't pose a threat he put away the kunai and took a different approach. "Sorry, I didn't know if you were someone dangerous or not." Naruto said as he stood up and patted the dust of his clothes, or at least what was left of them. He really needed to buy some new clothing. If this was anywhere other than the elemental nations, then they shouldn't know about him and his 'peculiarities' and let him buy some normal clothing.

"Why would I be someone dangerous?" He turned around and looked at her. He was a bit surprised she hadn't run yet. He had suspected her to either still be frozen in fear or running the heck away from here. But even now she was still looking at him as if he was the most interesting thing around, he would never admit it but it looked as if he were a book of some kind. One that would give her some new knowledge she desperately wanted.

He straightened up slightly, "well I have pretty much had to defend myself my whole life from people you would never think of as dangerous." She nodded and started to get up. She walked towards him and held out her hand. "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Nico Robin and I think I get what you mean." He looked at her while deciding what to say. "Nice to meet you I guess, I'm Uzumaki D. Naruto. But why would you be attacked?" She looked up and blushed, she waved her hand and suddenly he was surrounded by hands that where sprouting from all kinds of places. He backed off and tripped over a branch landing on his butt. "WHA...? Where the hell did those come from?" Robin had expected that reaction, people always did and soon after they would start calling her demon or monster.

She waited for the rejection, bracing herself, while watching the boy on the ground looking shocked. His opened his mouth to say something. "That is so cool! How did you do that, can I learn it?" He looked at her with sparkles in his eyes. She looked at him shocked about his reaction before composing herself, she shook her head lightly. "Sorry, only I can do this, it's because of the devil fruit that I ate when I was small." She saw him looking at her as if she were talking in a foreign language and decided to explain a bit more on the subject. After all, maybe he wasn't born on an island in the grand line? "It's a special kind of fruit, that when you eat one you gain special powers. The only side effect is that you become a hammer in water and will never be able to swim again."

He 'hmmd' and stood up, "well considering you showed me your secret I guess I should show you mine." She nodded and he did a backward jump, halfway the jump his body started to shine lightly and his form changed into that of a fox. When he landed he was fully shaped as a fox. Or rather somewhat of kit. He was now entirely covered in fur that was the same sun kissed yellow as his hair had been. He had one tail with a black tip on the end, on his stomach he had a white coloring that reached up to his snout. He had blood red eyes that shined as if there were jewels placed inside of them and around his eyes he had a black line that separated the bottom white half of his snout from the top yellow half. Robin stared at him in awe and before she could control her actions she started to pet him and scratch him behind the ears.

Naruto was just as shocked as Robin had been, people didn't just pet half breed yokai, though when he thought about it he looked just like a fox that was just slightly bigger than usual. When she had shown him her powers he'd decided to show her his. He'd thought that if she would start to hate him, he would at least know it beforehand and wouldn't be disappointed if they became friends. If she told the rest of the people in the neighborhood, he could always sneak and steal something. It would only return to how it had been. Better have his share of reality now than have his hopes crushed again later.

She continued petting him and he was enjoying every minutes of it. Before he knew it he was sitting down and relaxing while she continued to pet him. After a while she picked up her book from the ground and started to read again while she continued to run her fingers through his fur. They sat like this the entire evening until it started to become dark and she had to return. He changed back to his human form and she stood up. "So Naruto, what are you going to do?" She looked him in the eyes and he was immediately grateful that she didn't fear or hate him, he realized he was hoping to become friends with her but pushed the feeling down in fear of being betrayed again. "Well I guess I'll stay here for a while, I need to rest before I can continue and there is a forest so I can stay here." She made an agreeing sound and started walking down the path, he followed.

"Ne Robin?", "Hai?". She stopped and faced him, "why aren't you afraid of me or asking me why I can do that, you explained your powers to me so why shouldn't I?" She looked down in thought, "well you brought up the story and I did it mostly to show you I don't mean any harm, but you don't seem like you want to talk about it, I'll listen when and if you want to tell me." He looked her in the eyes as she lifted her face, "why do you already trust me that much? We've hardly known each other for a few hours?" She turned around and continued walking. "Well I think it's because we're similar, I don't know but everyone in this village calls me a demon or a monster." He flinched when she said that but followed after her as she talked, "but you didn't judge me like I expected you to, I think you know what it feels like to be hated." she stopped and turned around, "but that's just a feeling I have, so don't worry about it." She was about to turn back but he decided to answer that thought, "un, I do know what that feels like and if that's the reason I feel like we'll be great friends!" He said in a childish and innocent way he hadn't got to for a long time.

She stopped and turned around so quickly he almost though her neck would snap or something similar. He could see she had a hint tears in her eyes and he started to panic. "Are you alright, ooh is it something I said, something I did. please say you're alright, I really don't know what to do when girls start to cry!" But while he was ranting on about what to do she started to giggle and slowly burst out in laughing.

"What? I really don't get you! First you're crying and now you're laughing?!" He looked at het exasperated. After Robin stopped laughing and started to breathe again she stood up. "Datte, it was funny seeing you panic, but what I wanted to say was, Arigato. I've never had friends before and would be really happy to have you as a friend, I'll come by here again tomorrow, see you then!" She turned around and ran away leaving a frozen Naruto behind on his own.


	2. Books and archeologists

**Chapter 2**

 **Hon to kōkogaku-sha**

Naruto was walking around the forest, he had spent the night hunting, collecting food or resting. Slowly the night had turned to day and he wanted to see Robin and the island. She had said she would come to the forest but never said when, thus Naruto had decided to go look for her. Being half fox did have its quirks, he had an incredible smell. Aside from maybe the Inuzuka, who specialized in scenting, there probably weren't many humans that could compete with him on the matter. He sniffed around for a bit trying to find the right scent and it didn't take long before he found the now familiar scent of parchment and flowers.

He didn't want to go to the village quite yet. After Robin told him that they didn't accept her he didn't think he could trust them. He followed her scent and quickly realized that it was also moving away from the village. Naruto continued to move after it and soon found himself standing in front of one huge tree. The tree was, in no way definition of the word, small. It was nine to ten times the height of what would normally be a very tall tree and had the width of at least a couple of houses. He stared up and found he couldn't even see the top, even with his enhanced sense of sight. Moving closer he could smell Robin's scent coming from inside the tree. 'How am I going to enter a tree?' he absently thought as he continued to circle the base.

Ten minutes later he was almost halfway circling the tree as he didn't know what to do otherwise. it turned out to be the right decision though because on the other side there was a door. What a door would be doing on a tree though he probably wouldn't understand. He sighed and knocked on it and waited for a couple of seconds but as soon as he didn't get an answer he knocked again. This time though he did heard movement inside. He waited for a couple of seconds before the door opened.

"Hmm, I thought I heard someone knock on the door but..." the guy who answered the door mused to himself. Naruto had expected someone to open the door and that person might be surprised that a kid like himself would knock on the door. But this guy actually managed to literally look over him, he knew he was small but this just pissed him off. "Down here, never had a kid knock on ya door before?" He knew it wasn't polite to say such a thing as a greeting, but he didn't like someone messing with his height, directly or indirectly. The man turned to look down and to his pleasure managed to paint the picture of remorse with his expression. "Ooh sorry boy, I didn't see you there. Let me start again, might I help you?" Naruto straightened and looked up, the guy seemed nice enough so he started again. "No problem, I just don't like people messing with my height but I understand you didn't mean to." He gave the man his brightest smile. "Anyway I came here because I wanted to see Robin, is she here?"

If the man was surprised, he managed to keep it well hidden. "Well yes she is here, but why do you want to see her?" The man looked at him with a stern expression and Naruto realized that since Robin wasn't treated well by this village he wouldn't easily trust someone with robin, so he spoke honestly. "Well, I made friends with Robin yesterday and she said she'd come by to visit me later, but I realized she didn't tell me when so decided to come look for her." The man looked like he was thinking for a second before he moved away from the doorway and motioned Naruto inside.

Naruto studied the man as they walked through the hallway, the man was well... really weird. He literally had hair in the form of a clover, one with three leaves. One leaf was his beard which was long and had the form of a leaf, it was tied to his chin with a piece of lint, the other two leaves were two ponytails which were tied up on the side of his head. It looked really weird but he wouldn't mention it to the older man.

"So how did you meet Robin?" He looked the man in the eyes and saw the same he had seen in Robin's eyes. "Why do you have the same eyes as Robin?" The man looked surprised for a second and Naruto inwardly cursed for saying something that he wasn't going to say out loud. "What do you mean?" The older man asked him curiously. Naruto swore his eyes were twinkling when he asked. "Well yesterday I kinda did an 'unexpected' action and as soon as I turned around and looked at her she just looked at me as if I was some kind of book that would teach her something new." As soon as he said that the man burst out laughing. Thinking he had said something ridiculous Naruto turned a bright red tint and looked down in embarrassment.

The man looked at Naruto and saw his red ears as he could not see the face. "Oh sorry, it's just your analogy was spot on." He noticed Naruto looking at him as he was crazy and realized a problem he didn't usually have with Robin. "Ahh, analogy is using an example to portray something. Like saying that someone's hair looks like a duck's ass." At this Naruto started laughing and nodded showing the man he understood. At the okay signal the man continued. "Well what you said is exactly right, that is why it's funny. You see here at the tree of knowledge we archeologists gather to study and gain knowledge and just today Robin was officially recognized as an archeologist. She loves knowledge and as such she probably thought you were going to tell her something she didn't know yet." He explained to Naruto.

While they were talking they walked through the hallway until reaching a door, but just before opening it he stopped. "Young man, I'm sorry but I seem to have forgotten to ask you what your name is?" Naruto did a short polite bow and gave him another smile, "well, I'm Uzumaki D. Naruto but call me Naruto and who are you old man?" The man's eyes widened for a bit, glinting with something similar to shock and maybe recognition? But he quickly hid it and did a sweat drop at being called old, "well I am professor clover, head archeologist on this island Ohara".

After having been introduced to each other, the newly named Clover opened the door. If Naruto didn't know that it was impossible for one's eyes to pop out he would have said they did, because the inside of the tree was huge. Rows after rows after rows of books were put in cupboards that went all the way up to the top of the tree. A height he couldn't see properly even with his eyes! He had never seen so many books before, he nearly wondered briefly there even was so much to know about the world.

Seeing as Naruto was frozen professor Clover took the lead. "Follow me Naruto, I think I know where you'll find Robin." Listening to professor Clover Naruto followed him through the mountains of books and up the stairs. After climbing several stairs, they finally reached a levelled area where several tables where put out, 'probably for reading.' Naruto mused. But as soon as they fully reached the floor he saw Robin sitting there reading and ran up to her.

"Robin!" She looked up and saw Naruto. After seeing who it was she smiled and waved. He walked to her and sat down. "You don't mind that I came looking for ya do you?" She shook her head and smiled again before returning to her book. He looked at the title and saw she was reading some kind of book on round rainbows. Looking around all the books he suddenly had an idea, if they have any book on shinobi they had to have it here so he walked to professor Clover. "Ne professor Clover, do have any books here on shinobi or jutsu?"

Professor Clover looked surprised at the young boy but that expression soon turned to a slightly sterner one. "And why would you know about that? Not many people are aware of the elemental nations and even less of the terms they use there." Naruto looked at him confused before he slapped his head for no realizing he had forgotten that he wasn't in the elemental nations anymore and since they were shinobi other parts of the world would not know. "Sorry professor Clover I forgot, I am from the elemental nations and had to leave because of certain reasons. But I want to continue training and I thought that if there are so many books here you must have information about almost anything here." He smiled sheepishly while explaining. Professor Clover just looked at him with surprise, before managing to answer Naruto's question. "Well the amount of information we have is minimal though as you said we do have some. Would you be willing to verify it if you could?" Naruto thought about it before answering, "yes, if it's verifying I don't mind but as you know shinobi are based on secrecy and as such I cannot tell you anything new." Naruto told him seriously, he may have been chased out of his home but even now he still had his honor of being a shinobi. Besides he'd been raised as one. You wouldn't think it seeing his character but Naruto was one who'd taken well to stealth.

Professor Clover stared at the young boy before answering. "Yes, that is understandable and very admirable. Though I wonder how they manage to keep so much secret and even manage to keep a young boy such as yourself keep it willingly. I will see if I can go get some of the books now, have fun, you too Robin." He looked at her and she absently waved to him before returning to her book. He joined her at the table and went through some of the books looking for something interesting.

After about an hour Naruto was beginning to lose patience, he was never one for reading if it didn't have anything to do with training or stories. "Ne Robin, how can you keep reading for so long!" Robin looked up from her book, half surprised and mused for a bit before answering. "Well, I suppose I just like learning new things, don't you?" He looked at her and answered, "well yeah, but for me that doesn't mean everything. I like learning things that help me protect my precious people meaning I like learning new things that will help me in my training." She looked at him questioningly and so he elaborated a bit more. "I mean like, learning how to fight better, or what the right way to handle a sword is, about which poisons are dangerous and so on. Things that can make a difference in life and death." She looked him with an awed expression before standing up and walking away. "Robin ..., hey Robin where are you going?" He was about to stand up when she came back. "Here." She handed him three books, "though I don't know much about shinobi so I can't help you with that. These books are about martial arts of some country, other ways of being stealthy and the last is one on survival methods. I don't know if that helps?" He thanked her excitedly and gave her a big hug before sitting down and starting to read.

All without noticing her slightly red tinted face.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

While all of this happened they didn't notice that at least half of the staff of the tree of knowledge was watching what had happened with growing smiles on their faces. They were all thinking about how Naruto was a good influence on Robin. The girl had no friends her age on the island.

Professor Clover was the first to speak among them, "I hope they can help one another, if that boy is really from the elemental nations then I doubt his life has been an easy one." All of them nodded and returned to their work while hoping the kids would become good friends who could help each other.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto continued to read the books that Robin had given him but he was having a lot of trouble. Back at the village he grew up in he hadn't been taught much about these kind of things, especially literature. He could read and understand a bit but a lot of it was difficult. He kept stopping at every sentence as soon as there was a word he didn't understand. Robin noticed this after a while and put down her book.

"Is something wrong Naruto?" But he just kept staring at his book and sighed before slamming his head onto the table, "I don't get it!" He yelled. Robin giggled a bit at the sight before the words registered. "is it that hard?"

Naruto kept his head down on the table but tried to shake his head, Robin realized he was saying no and frowned a bit. "It's not hard? But then what is the problem?" She watched as Naruto slowly lifted his head and looked away slightly red in the face. "The stuff isn't that hard but I don't get most of the words." He mumbled ashamed.

Naruto thought she was going to burst out laughing at him for being so stupid but when he didn't hear anything he turned to her. Robin though had just grabbed the book and read a bit of it. After a few minutes she put the book back down. "Naruto there's nothing to be ashamed about, this book is quite difficult and we're only eight."

He just stared at her before asking back for the book, "then why do you get it?" He asked, Robin had just read it and didn't seem to not understand it. "I grew up here and I love reading. After reading so much my vocabulary got much better, I am an archeologist you know." She puffed out her chest slightly with pride.

Naruto grinned when she said the last sentence and bowed over the table towards her until he was very close. Robin had no idea what he was doing until he whispered something to her. "Even though you only became one today?" He said smartly.

Robin blushed being caught at bragging a bit before Naruto started laughing and held his stomach. It took a few minutes for him to calm down. "Don't worry Ro, I just heard that from professor Clover, besides I think it's amazing you're already an archeologist. It means you have to study a lot right? I don't think I could do that!" Grinning sheepishly, he didn't even notice Robin turn an even brighter red as he said all of that.

Robin calmed her heartbeat and her breathing when she noticed something. "Ro?" Naruto looked up, put his arms over each other and thought about it for a bit before his face lit up. "Ooh, hehehe sorry." He said chuckling a bit, "it's Ro from Robin. It's like a nickname sorry if you don't like it." But Robin who'd figured out the reason as he talked started to shake he had. "No, I like it. I just wondered what it was, Naru." Adding the last bit with a slight smirk.

Naruto smiled brightly at her for the little nickname before he took the books he was reading back from her. "So Ro? Do you think you could help me with this?" Pointing to the book he'd been reading before. Robin just smiled and nodded, "of course, what do you want to know?"

Naruto blushed slightly as he pointed to the many words he didn't understand, but it slowly disappeared as Robin just started to explain each word patiently until he understood and could continue reading the book. Occasionally having to get another book to understand things better.


	3. One month later

Ok apparently I've got at least a few people who like this so for now I'll continue to put up what I have of this story. As for the first and only review I've gotten, well I thought I'd give a response. I had actually thought of splitting the One Piece world and that of Naruto instead of merging them into one. But it's something that's done quite often. I also really adore the way Oda Eiichiro has created the world of One Piece and all of its intricacies. All of the history and mysteries surrounding it.

Putting Naruto's world into this world actually allows me to set the stage to put my own spin on the story later on. Well this is my reasoning at least. I hope you'll like this despite me not taking that particular route.

Also at least 15 chapter have already been written, I have reread them many times and I will not be changing anything except for maybe small mistakes. Whether or not I'll continue this story beyond that is a different matter entirely.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Iikagetsugo saki**

A month later and Naruto could honestly say he had never been as happy with his life as he was now. In the last month he had slowly gotten to know Robin better and even found his place at the tree of life. Apparently Naruto was pretty smart for his age, not as smart as everyone there but considering they were all archeologists this wasn't very surprising.

As a shinobi he knew how to climb walls without using his hands and so he could easily do training this way while cleaning up books at the same time, this way he could stay at the tree while everyone else had to work and still do something to help them and not be in the way. To say they had been surprised was an understatement, he could easily say that he fell down laughing when he saw their faces after he showed them he could walk on the walls.

In the last month Naruto had also come to know a lot of things, first of all Robin really wasn't treated all that well in this village. She was treated with the same amount of respect Naruto had in Konoha, which was practically none. The only difference was that they weren't physically hurting her, well besides throwing things at her. Ooh and she had the archeologists to go to. Nonetheless though it was horrible. Naruto made it a point to stay with her for as long as possible before returning to the forest.

Professor Clover had also gotten some books on shinobi for Naruto, who was surprised to see that all the information they had was true. It was quite the accomplishment considering the secrecy the elemental nations are sworn to and he complemented professor Clover on it. Although the information they had wouldn't be of much use to anyone who couldn't use chakra, which he thought was pretty much anyone outside of the elemental nations. The amount of chakra he had encountered on his trip to Ohara hadn't once reached above civilian level. But thanks to the books he could continue training and he even found a way to improve his chakra control by practicing with leaves on his body while training, a method he been taught before. His old man had preferred meditation.

Another thing he figured out was his elemental nature, although there wasn't any special paper to check for certain. In the book there was another method which was kind of farfetched considering all the things you had to do but nonetheless he eventually figured out that his element was wind and lightning. With wind probably being his foremost but he had no way of checking without that whatever you call it piece of paper.

Naruto and Robin had gotten even closer in the last month and they had each shared more details of their past with each other. Like how they were treated and who were precious to them. Although Naruto had come to see how Robin was treated in the past considering it hadn't changed much from what is was like now. Robin though had come to see Naruto in a new light as his life had been much harder than the one she was living. But he was still very protective of his home village, though he didn't leave without accumulating some hatred for them. They slowly but surely where growing closer to one another and were becoming nearly inseparable when together.

Today though something was different, he had a feeling that something very important was going to happen today. Naruto had told only Robin of him being half fox as though he did trust the archeologists he hadn't fully recovered from being chased from the village and he in no way wanted to repeat that. So he had yet to tell them.

He entered the tree of knowledge and walked up the stairs to where he always sits with Robin, but after waiting for ten minutes he didn't see Robin and decided to look for her. Walking down the stairs he took another turn where he found Robin hiding behind a door, he walked towards her and blew in her ear softly. She jumped up and looked behind her, seeing Naruto with a huge smile on his face.

She pouted slightly, "Naruto, why did you do that? I am listening to something very important!" He smiled another sheepish smile before turning to his attention back to her interested in what she had said. "Important, how? Tell me too!" She thought about it before nodding to herself. "Well, professor Clover and the rest have been studying these hieroglyphs called poneglyphs for ages now to find out what happened in the void of a hundred years. " She turned to Naruto and saw him looking at her with a blank look. "This period became known as the Void Century because there is nothing left to acknowledge anything that happened in it, aside from the poneglyphs which are written in a language that few know how to read. Professor clover and the rest are studying it and I want to too but when I went to tell them that I could help when I became an archeologist he became mad saying it is forbidden to study poneglyphs and it is dangerous. So if they find me here I might not be allowed back. You won't tell right?" She put up her puppy eye face and he knew he couldn't win, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. "Hmm, what should I do?" She looked a bit disappointed thinking he was going to tell on her. Naruto grinned "... Nah I won't tell plus it seems interesting". She smiled and they turned back to the door.

"So what are these poneglyphs?" He heard a soft thud and turned to robin seeing her on the floor with a sweat drop. "If you didn't know then why agree? Well anyway poneglyph are mysterious stone blocks with history inscribed onto them, and these blocks are scattered all over the Grand Line. The Government has apparently forbidden anyone to research or study them, I don't know why though, according to professor Clover they are unbreakable." Naruto made a small sound to tell her he understood and turned his attention to the room he saw through the small gap in the wall.

He saw all the professors standing there with a white board next to clover, he seemed to be explaining something to them or discussing, he didn't know which one it was, but it seemed important. Half of what they said he didn't understand but it looked like they couldn't figure something out. Robin seemed to understand it though, "ne Robin, what are they talking about I don't follow." She continued to listen until professor Clover was finished and turned to him, "well they can't figure out why what the poneglyph says isn't making any sense, the encrypting system seems to need a key and they don't know what or where it is." Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Encrypting key?" He looked at her questioningly before she continued, "yes, some codes need some kind of key before they can be solved. That is why some codes and encryptions haven't been solved yet. An encrypting key can be anything, information, a number or even something personal." Naruto nodded and they turned back, but soon he drifted off again and found himself looking at the ducts before an idea popped in his head.

"Hey Robin, I know spot where we can look at the room better and hear better. I mean I can see it from here but I bet you can't right?" She looked at him and nodded, she couldn't see as well as he could. Well he was half fox so he would have better senses she mused. "What do you have in mind?" He showed her his famous foxy smile before gesturing for her to follow him.

Minutes later they were in the ducts listening to the discussions the professors were having in the room.

"This doesn't make any sense, all of the information we have fits but the poneglyphs tell us otherwise!" one guy shouted. "The poneglyphs are the only information that we know is actually from that period, so why are they all overlapping and not forming one whole?!" Another guy called out. They were all murmuring and shouting until professor Clover finally had enough. "QUIET DOWN! Calm down everyone, if we don't approach this patiently we won't get anywhere. We'll need to start over and make sure we haven't missed anything. We can read it and if there is an encryption key there has to be a clue as to where it might be."

They watched the professors walk out of the room, though they returned a couple of minutes later with a huge black rock. It had some kind of lettering engraved onto it. The rock was huge and it looked to be made of some sort of obsidian. They were pulling it while it was on some kind of cart. He turned to Robin and saw her looking excitedly at the stone. He turned back to it and looked at it. Before they could do anything else though, the duct suddenly gave way and they were send tumbling into the room.

"ROBIN, NARUTO!? What are you doing here, we told you not to be here and Robin we explicitly warned you not to be here!" Professor Clover shouted. Robin was trying to seem smaller as she knew she shouldn't be there but her curiosity got the best of her. "Please professor I really want to help you guys and it's really interesting and, and…" She hesitated a bit before continuing, "and I can read poneglyphs, so can't I please help?" Everyone single person in the room gasped and it soon became so quiet that a needle could be heard dropping. "Robin can you really read poneglyphs? I thought I told you it was forbidden? Besides..." But before he could continue Naruto pulled the attention to him

"It's wrong." he said staring at the poneglyph.

Everyone in the room turned to the young boy, professor Clover walked to Naruto and looked at him before gasping slightly. His eyes were blood red and it was as he wasn't entirely conscious. He almost seemed to be in some sort of trance. Quickly Composing himself he ducked and put both hands on the boy's shoulders before looking at Naruto. "What is wrong?" Everyone was a bit surprised that he wasn't yelling at the boy, they knew how he was trying to keep them away from the poneglyph business but as soon as they saw the boys eyes they knew something was wrong and continued watching without interrupting.

"The encryptions are wrong." As soon as he said that he walked to the poneglyph and held his hand up to touch it. As the hand brushed the black stone it started glowing an odd color red and the encryptions started coming alive, they left the stone swimming across the room. Everyone was quiet, some scared and some intrigued but all of them surprised. All the encryptions were rearranging themselves and were slowly being placed back onto the poneglyph. One by one the encryptions were placed in the order Naruto wanted them and as soon as every single one of them was back on the black stone, he took a step back. As The black stone stopped glowing Naruto's eyes turned back to their normal sky colored blue and he collapsed onto the ground.

"NARUTO!" Everyone yelled, they checked up on the boy and made sure he was alright before they slowly turned back to the poneglyph. While professor Clover still had the young boy in his arms. He looked down the writings and the first thing that went through his mind was, 'it makes sense now'.


	4. Temporary banishment from the library

**It seems there are a few people who actually like this. Honestly I'm honored to hear that. It may be an old story but to me this holds a lot of sentimental worth. I spend my entire summer at the time writing it.**

 **Warning: A few far-fetched ideas, odd English and a very simple writing style.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Tōshokan kara no ichiji-tekina tsuihō to warawasetekureru kyojin.**

After that night everything took a turn from bad, worse to worst with some good things in between. Almost immediately after Naruto woke up, Robin and he were forbidden to go to the library for a week because of disobeying the rules. They were heartbroken because even though it was only for a week it was Robin's safe haven from the village and everything else and the only place Naruto could relax in and enjoy, being kicked out from it was harsh for the both of them.

To make it even better, the both of them were ambushed by the kids from the village almost straight after. They threw pieces of food at and though he could easily dodge them, Naruto was devastated from being temporarily banished form the library and worried that they might start to hate him after what had happened. He didn't entirely understand what, hell he didn't know for one bit what had happened, but he knew it wasn't normal for an eight year old to be surrounded by floating letters and rearranging them as if it were a game. He remembered knowing what to do and where to place them even though he'd never seen them before.

He grabbed Robin by the hand and dragged her to the forest. As soon as they got there he turned around and made her look him in the eye "ne Robin" he continued after she nodded showing he had her attention "don't worry, it's only one week, they'll forgive us and we can lay off the poneglyph for a while, you'll see, and when we're older we can help them and they can't stop us then" he grinned at her trying to show her it was fine. She giggled for a bit and them turned to face him "thanks Naruto but if you want to reassure me you'll need to make sure your smile is real" she smirked when she saw him pout, she moved closer to him and gave him a hug "thanks Naruto i really appreciate it" she moved away and sat down next to him "you know, if it was a month ago that this happened, I would have been devastated, but now... Oh don't get me wrong I feel awful about what happened, but I have you here with me". She looked him in the eyes and gave him her best smile yet "and I feel like I can go anywhere as long as I'm with you". He returned the smile and they stood up. "Ne Naruto, can I pet you?" She tried to hide her face but Naruto saw the blush spreading on it and smirked "heh developed a fox fetish Robin?" He asked sarcastically, He laughed as he saw her turn from slightly red to a full blown out tomato colored red. "Well I don't mind" he did a backward flip and after a flash of light a beautiful yellow fox stood by her side at waist height. They moved towards the forest and when they reached the beach they sat down again, she started reading while petting Naruto and he lied down enjoying it and having a nap.

After an hour or so though, Naruto was awoken by a huge noise and he immediately took a defensive position in front of Robin, he looked around and tried to pinpoint the location. He felt Robin hiding slightly behind him as he continued to search but couldn't find anything.

"BOOM" he jumped slightly in surprise but held his ground, Robin did the same which Naruto thought was brave for someone her age and not trained. He quickly transformed back and grabbed her hand. "Wha..? Naruto what are you doing?" He ran towards the sound quietly and looked back to Robin "aren't you curious about what's there?" She nodded, "yes I am, but what if it's something dangerous?" He could see the worry in her eyes "well, then I'll just have to protect you from won't I", she looked hesitant but after he showed her his usual foxy smile she relented. "Ok but if it's anything dangerous we leave". "Hai, hai, Robin-sama" she looked at him with a pointed look and he agreed.

They moved silently through the forest towards where they thought all the crushing and whamming sounds came from. Without making a sound they came closer and closer, slowly reaching the beach on the another side of the island. Naruto wanted to use the trees as a way of camouflage and to be sure they weren't seen, but Robin couldn't do this, she wasn't a shinobi after all, so they had to walk slowly to be quiet. Although it was slower they had to be careful, so they made their way towards the sound.

He had been expecting all kinds of things when they heard the sound, it was a very loud sound and if it hadn't been from so deep inside the forest Naruto could have sword the village would have heard it. So he knew it couldn't be anything normal after all what normal thing made that kind of noise, but it just made him more excited about what it was.

After walking through the forest for a couple of minutes, the sound became more quiet and they had to concentrate to find them although Naruto didn't have much of a problem listening to it. They slowly reached the beach, but what they saw wasn't what they had been expecting.

Laying half on the beach was a giant, Naruto was amazed and tried to move closer, he wasn't the only one, Robin couldn't hide her curiosity and followed him to the giant. They were surprised to see that those sounds where of him coughing loudly from swallowing sea water. They walked around him as he lay there quietly without moving, Naruto knew from years of training that the giant was awake, but he didn't know why he would pretend otherwise so he tried to take the lead but Robin stayed next to him. He heard something move and stayed defensively by Robin's side.

"GUAAAH!" The giant suddenly yelled but Naruto and Robin both just stared at him, 'that giant definitely has to do some training if he wants to scare someone' Naruto thought. He looked to Robin and saw she was also looking at him as if he were crazy, surprisingly though he didn't see the usual spark in her eyes that she had when something interested her, was a giant not interesting enough for her?

But before they could do anything the giant collapsed before them "mi... Mizu", he looked at Robin as she repeated it "mimizu?" Before Naruto started laughing, "mizu, Robin, I think he wants water" she blushed slightly and turned away "i knew that!" He continued laughing but walked towards the giant "ne ojisan, there is a river just up ahead in the forest, but we can't carry you there. Can you walk?" The giant looked up slightly and nodded before moving toward the direction Naruto pointed him in.

"HAAH" After the giant had some water to drink he sat down next to the river while Naruto and Robin were sitting down in a giant rock next to him, so they could at least see his face. "Haa, ya spared muh life, i wonder if dat persons a'right too?" 'That person' Naruto thought as they listened, they didn't interrupt him as he turned to them "dis land got a town, no?" Robin looked at me before answering "yup", the giant sighed "I wish ad drifted to sum'place uninhabited" but before they could ask anything about it he adjusted his position, causing them lose their balance and falling over slightly. They quickly found their balance and sat down again

After waiting for awhile, Robin got her book out and started reading, Naruto was taking a nap while keeping an eye out for the giant. The giant in reticular was thinking about something, after half an hour or so passed he finally decided to speak again "nuthing'll happen if you stay'ere ya know, ah hurt mah legs so ah'll just be sitting'ere, ah'll prolly and make a raft eventually" Robin nodded while he just looked at the giant slightly bored. The giant looked at them and put on a serious expression "is dis ya first time seeing a giant?" He and Robin both nodded before he continued "well lemme tell ya guys, don' think'a me as dose barbaric 'elbaf', it bodders me dat dey're very well-known, people'll t'ink all giants're like'em", Naruto just nodded while Robin replied "i see". The giant continued "well even if ya say no, ah'll ask anyway. Wou'ja please not tell anybody 'bout me?" We both nodded but he just shook his head "ya answered to quick, ya gonna tell aren't ya, no way a child can keep a secret", Naruto was about to tell him something but Robin beat him to it "datte, i'm not interested in you" Naruto sweat dropped while the giant started laughing "DERESHISHISHIS".

"What was that" Naruto said for the first time. The giant turned to him "WHAT AHM JUST LAUGHING, DERESHI DERESHISHISHI" as soon as he said that both Naruto and Robin burst out laughing and soon all three of them were lying on the ground having problems breathing.

"I'm Jaguar D. Saul. You two are?" "D?" Robin asked seeing the similarity to Naruto's name. "oh dats alway been in ma family", Robin made a hmmm sound "wats yer name", she looked to Naruto as he nodded. "I'm Robin and he's Naruto" she said while pointing my way, "yoroshiku" Naruto said giving him his foxy smile. Saul seemed to think about something while looking at them before shaking his head "nah dat cant be" he said to himself but not before Naruto heard it and looked up but decided he could ask later when Saul continued .

"Nice ta meet up ya you two" Naruto smiled and Robin nodded to him "ya really wont tell anyone". They both nodded before Naruto answered "it's not like we have anyone to tell anyway". Saul looked at them slightly shocked "what ya mean", Robin looked to Naruto and he nodded showing it was okay for her to talk about him too "well i don't have any parents to tell something to, well i have a mom but she left for the see when i was young so i don't remember her and Naruto washed up on this island so it's the same for him, the only ones we could and would tell are the archeologists here but we were just chased from the library for a week so that's not an option either", Saul just looked sadly at them as she talked "but couldn't ya just tell sum'one from the village", Naruto saw Robin hesitate for a moment before talking "no I can't and won't, the kids in town say I'm creepy and won't play or talk to me" she said as she waved her arms making a row of hands sprout on Saul's arm. He didn't look surprised though "ah, ya a devil fruit user", Robin looked up at him in surprise "aren't you scared", he laughed again before answering "nah, ah have seen plently of 'em on da sea". She smiled for a bit.

"So I think it's getting dark, Robin shouldn't you be returning to your house, before Roji gets mad" Naruto said saying the name Roji with disgust. She turned to him and nodded "well then, I'll see you tomorrow Naruto and I hope I'll see you again soon Saul". Saul laughed and waved her goodbye "me too Robin". Slowly she moved out of sight and Naruto stood up. "Shouldn't ya be goin home too" Saul asked him, "nah, Robin told you didn't she I washed up here about a month ago I live in the forest" Saul looked at him with wide eyes before they returned to their normal size. "Well then I guess we're neighbors", "yeah I guess we are". Naruto walked to the side of the stone and jumped from it to a nearby branch, jumping from branch to branch until he reached the ground. After he did this he went to take a drink at the river ignoring the giant that was looking astonished at him

"Wha da hell was dat?" Naruto finished drinking and turned to him "what was what?" Saul pointed to the rock and trees he just jumped of and Naruto realized what he meant "oooh that, I'm trained to do that so I've got much better reflexes and my body is much stronger than most people." He smiled in a way that looked slightly forced and Saul seemed like he wanted to ask something but decided against it. Naruto stood up and brushed of the mud of his clothes "well, it was nice meeting you Saul but i have got to go hunt now otherwise i won't have any food for tonight" Naruto said as he left to enter the forest, once out of sight he changed to his fox form and started hunting but not before he had heard a last sentence from the giant "if ya done ya welcome ta join me".

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Professor clover!" A man ran towards the clover haired professor "what is it" he answered and turned around to face the younger man. "Sir we have finished decrypting the stone entirely and" he took a deep breath and continued "everything makes sense now, the information fits exactly with all the other decrypted stones we have found. It seems whatever Naruto did it was exactly what was needed to decrypt the stone, we have hypothesized that the other stones we have studied had been decrypted in a similar way." Clover listened to the man in front of him as he explained what was written on the stone. Something Naruto did was the encryption key? No, Naruto only touched it slightly, all of the other professors and archeologists have done that before. But If wasn't something that Naruto why did the poneglyph react like it did? Maybe ... He gasped as he realized something. "Professor is something wrong?" Clover muttered something "what?" "Naruto is an encryption key, but how is that possible?" The younger man stared in shock at what the professor had just said but before he could ask anything else the professor turned to him "you, call for a meeting, all the archeologists and professor of the tree of knowledge are to be present. This must be discussed before Olvia returns next week!" The younger man nodded and turned away to get it done. Professor clover turned to the poneglyph and sighed, this was going to get very difficult. A girl who can read poneglyphs and a boy who can decrypt them, he just hoped they would both be safe.


	5. Nico Olvia and the poneglyph

**Warning: A few far-fetched ideas, odd English and a very simple writing style.**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Nico Olvia to poneglyph.**

It had been a week since Naruto and Robin had found Saul on the beach and they had visited him every day since. He told them stories about giants and of his adventures on the sea, Robin had told him about herself and the island, when she had told him how they were still pretty much alone despite being surrounded by the villagers Saul had given her some advice; "Nobody is born alone in this world, somewhere there are nakama that will protect you and stay by your side." When he said that Naruto agreed and told her he would always be with her. She had smiled and told him she would be there for him too. Saul had started to laugh after that and soon everyone was laughing again. They were happy, the banishment from the library had been officially lifted, they had made a new friend and everything was going well. But that would all change today, that was how Naruto felt when he woke up that morning. He shook off the feeling not believing it and went to meet Robin at the library where they had planned to meet.

He ran through the forest and soon he saw Robin standing in front of the tree of knowledge waiting for him. "Hey Robin!" She turned around and smiled at him, he moved closer until he was standing next to her, "hey Naruto." He smiled at her, "today were finally allowed back in, you know our promise right?" She looked down a bit sadly, "yeah, no bothering them about poneglyph until we're a bit older."

"Yeah, I know you want to but getting permanently banished from the library isn't going to help and you know Saul is going to leave soon." Yes, Saul was going to leave soon, as his wound had nearly healed and he was nearly done making his raft to leave for the next island. She nodded, "well then let's go in." She nodded again and knocked on the door.

Soon the door opened and professor clover stood there, he looked down at us. "Well, well, it seems the week has passed and what have you two learned from this?" Robin shuffled a bit and Naruto noticed he was doing the same, it was strange he had been yelled at plenty of times but it was different when professor Clover did it. He actually cared what the professor thought of him and so he didn't like it when they looked at them as if they were disappointed. Robin was the first to answer, "sir, I understand we're too young to join you in your research and we won't try to sneak in anymore." He looked at her with a smile and relief, but Naruto knew she wasn't done yet. "but…" Clover was surprised but continued listening as Robin looked determined to. "I will study poneglyphs when I am old enough, I want to study them just like my mother and I can because I can read them. If you say we are too young to help, then we will wait a couple of years but we will help when we are old enough to!"

Clover sighed as he knew there was nothing he could do against it. "We?" He asked. She nodded, "yes Naruto had decided to help me in any way he can and I will help him with his goals." Clover looked to Naruto, "your goals?" Naruto nodded, "yes, I want to become strong. Strong enough to protect those precious to me and not let anything happen to them!" Clover looked into his sky blue eyes and saw the determination of the both of them. "Very well, I don't think I could stop you two, but as I said not until you are officially adults as this is forbidden and you two are too young. Now I wanted to tell you two earlier but we have some very important thing to talk about today so I hope you'll come back here later in the evening." They were disappointed but slowly agreed and left the tree to go to the beach.

Later on the beach Naruto and Robin were talking to Saul again, he was listening to Robin as she talked to Saul about her dream of following her mother when she returned. "Heh, ya an archeologist, even though yer so lidle." Naruto laughed at that as he had the same reaction. Robin pouted for a while but quickly continued, "yes and though I don't remember my mom, I know she is busy with her archeology research, so next time she comes home I'm going to show her that I'm an archeologist and ask her to take me with her!" She smiled slightly at the idea and Naruto followed up. "Yeah and I'm going to follow her and if I'm not allowed I'll sneak onto the boat and prank everyone there." They all burst out in laughing, Naruto and robin laughing normally and Saul doing his famous 'dereshishishi' laugh.

"Ne Saul, did you know that there is a period in history where nobody knows what happened?" Saul nodded, "yeah da void of a hundred years right?" Robin nodded and continued, "yeah, I find it really interesting but the government forbids any research of it." Naruto saw where this was heading and tried to intervene, "ne Robin, you sure you want to tell this to Saul, not that I don't trust him but..." He trailed of seeing her determined eyes looking at him. He paused and knew that if she had thought it through why interfere? So she continued, "my mom is studying this."

He saw Saul's eyes wide and his mouth opened and closed as if trying to say something, but he tried to calm down. After a couple of minutes of seeing Saul trying to get his breathing under control he turned to the kids, "ya mom is looking for them poneglyphs?" He said still looking surprised, Robin was also surprised but for a different reason, "you know about poneglyphs?" "Well yeah only dem who'ave studied it can read it, and even den they ha'ent found da right way to read da poneglyphs yet." She smiled at him as him knowing it made is easier for them to explain. "Yeah but I can read poneglyph and ..." She looked at Naruto and he nodded, "and it seems Naruto knows how to solve the encryption so..." But before she could continue, Saul had started panicking and murmuring to himself. He and Robin watched him panic and stayed quiet, after several minutes he turned to them with a very panicked expression.

"Na, ya two is da true what ya just said!" They both nodded hesitantly. "Then ya can't say any'hing about dat oke, it's very dangerous ya can get killed fo'dat!" He and Robin both stayed quiet listening to what Saul was telling them. "Robin, Naruto, wha are ya mother's name?" They switched glances and robin answered first, "Nico Olvia" they saw his eyes widen with recognition before Naruto answered, "Uzumaki D. Kushina" and that did it. Saul started laughing, but not his usual jolly and happy laugh. This laugh was filled with hurt, regret and sadness. Naruto wanted to ask what was wrong he saw robin wanted to too, but they waited for him to calm down.

"Dereshishishi, what a twist. The children of two friends meet" Naruto and Robins eyes widen as they glanced at each other, they both turned back to Saul soon after with Naruto asking what they both thought, "what do you mean?". "I mean dat ya mothers were friends, dey were bod searching for poneglyphs before it became too dangerous for ya mother ta continue and Olvia send her ta live with her lover that ah assume is ya dad." He said looking at Naruto. Naruto looked at Robin with awe before turning back to Saul. "What do you mean dangerous?" He said narrowing his eyes. Saul noticed this and explained, "Naruto, ah think ya know wha ah mean." That was enough for him to know Saul meant the strange thing he'd done back at the tree of knowledge but he didn't understand what was so dangerous about it, "I don't understand…"

"Does this have something to do with the poneglyph?" He turned to Robin and saw she was thinking about something, he also thought about it, he knew that he had never seen a poneglyph before in his life and yet he somehow knew how to decrypt them. At least that was the conclusion as to what they thought he did. It was a bit strange once he thought about it really. Saul nodded, "yeah, ah don't know how but ya mum told me, dat Kushina could just do it. They thought it had to do with ya fox side." Naruto flinched slightly, he didn't like people who he hadn't told himself mention that. "Dey said dat maybe ya were one of deir descendants who were given the key or it was just in ya blood or something. But da government figured it out and started hunting her." Naruto flinched again and this time Robin stayed quiet.

"But Naruto why are ya here, aren't ya still supp'sed to be where ya mum is?" Naruto looked down sadly and shook his head, "no, I don't know where they are, jiji, the one who told me about them, said he didn't know where they were. I don't even know all that much about them, pretty much only their names. I was kicked out of the village because they saw me as a threat. After being hunted for months I ran off the island and ended up here on Ohara." Saul looked down at him sadly but that didn't last long.

They saw Saul's expressions change once more from one of explaining to panic. "This is really Ohara ain't it?" They both nodded, Saul sighed heavily and tried to calm down. "Kids ya better listen ta what I say real good, ok? What I am telling ya is real important. Tha reason a was stranded'ere was cause ah left the marine to save ya mum from jail Robin, she told me everyth'ng and thats why I knew that ya parents were friends. But we escaped because we heard that ya home was gonna be attacked by the marine for illegally researching poneglyph." Naruto watched as he saw Robin pale. Within seconds it turned to panic and she started to yell it wasn't true. He himself didn't react as much but maybe that was because it just didn't feel real to him, all the peace the last month had made him gone soft. He just wasn't as prepared and now he was going to pay for it. After Saul shouted that he wouldn't lie to them and that Robin's mom might be back, she ran away as fast as she could towards the tree of knowledge.

Naruto sat there for a while in silence before he turned back to Saul, "Saul when will the marine get here?" But before he could get an answer they heard an explosion from the village. Naruto didn't wait, "I think I got my answer, Saul. Arigato I'll see you later!" But before the giant could answer Naruto had vanished with a blur of yellow.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Nico Olvia!" A young archeologist said pointing towards the doorway. In the doorway a young woman was standing she had snow white hair and had features that weren't unlike an older version of robin. She was wearing a sky blue T-shirt with some brown pants that were easy to move in and had lots of pocket. Over it all she was wearing a long white trench coat, not unlike a lab coat, but it was a bit battered and seemed old.

The woman walked into the tree of knowledge and was welcomed from all sides by everyone. Professor clover stepped forward from the back of the group and gave her a hand. "It's nice to see you again, we haven't seen you or had contact since you came here to drop robin off." The woman named Olvia smiled sadly and gave the professor a firm hand. "Sorry professor Clover a lot has happened, but I have some serious information that I need to tell you now." Clover was a bit taken aback but motioned for her to come in further and sit down, but she waved it off and asked if she tell it there and then.

"As I've told you I have some bad news; the government has officially set their sights on us." Everyone in the room gasped, but not many were actually surprised. They had expected is to happen eventually. "I take it you've read the newspaper but the expedition group that left six years ago were all killed and I am the only survivor. I escaped to tell you that this island will be attacked and you all have to escape before it is too late!" She yelled the last bit as all the archeologists in the room seemed to slowly calm down. The slight shock that had been there had disappeared and the archeologists seemed almost apathetic to what was happening around them. One might even have said at peace with what was happening. Slowly shaking their heads, they showed Olvia that it wasn't going to turn out like she'd hoped it would.

"Why won't you leave, staying here is forfeiting your life!" She said panicking even more, but the archeologists wouldn't budge. "You're right, this time, it seems, we can no longer elude the eyes of our investigators ... If the government is trying to kill us." Olvia tried to cut in as she knew what was coming but clover continued, "but Olvia I...we cannot run away, abandoning all these treasures of mankind." He said as he waved around the tree, showing all the books the tree held, "you should've have known that Olvia." The woman in question looked down in frustration but eventually relented. "Then I will join you", a majority of the archeologists tried to oppose saying that Olvia had a daughter to take care of and that she should go see her. But she wouldn't agree she didn't deserve robin after leaving her in the first place.

"Professor, how is Robin doing?" She looked at him waiting for the answer. He sighed and gave her a big proud smile. "She is well, she has the same love for archaeology that you have and frankly is a genius at it too. She isn't treated well at this island and was always alone, but in the last month she made friends with a boy who washed ashore here and they have been inseparable since." This made Olvia smile and remember her own encounter with Kushina. If Robin was alright, then that was good. "A boy that washed ashore?" She asked just as curious as Robin had been. The professor nodded, "yes, she found him on the beach and they became friends, he came here the next day looking for her and since they've been coming here every day except for last week. His name was Naruto, Uzumaki D. Naruto. It sounds familiar doesn't it?" Olvia had wanted to ask about why they hadn't come in the last week but after hearing that name she froze; it couldn't really be that Uzumaki D. right?

But before she could think any further about that they heard an explosion close to the village and ran out of the tree to get a better look. "Everyone remember; you are neither acquaintances nor nakama of mine!" Olvia yelled as she ran towards the village. Not listening to any of the scholars telling her to come back.

She ran through the village towards the ships with a gun in her hands, people in the village were panicking. She continued all the way to bay without noticing Robin running past her towards the tree of knowledge.


	6. The start of a tragedy

**Wow, I really appreciate the reviews that have been written! I really enjoyed reading the theories and enjoyment some of you guys seem to get from reading this. Even if this stays a small group I'm still happy there are people who enjoy this.**

 **Well then, I've got a few new things to mention. First of all yes this will not be a harem. It is, I suppose, a Naruto X Robin story. One Piece isn't a series focused on Romance though. Their bond is one that is very strong and I try to express that at every possible turn.**

 **Also for the people who follow this** **. I noticed a quite a bit of simple grammar and punctuation errors in the first couple of chapter. I think I'll go back and thoroughly sort that out. So for the people who follow this, if it's really irritating to get emails about new chapter that are actually old ones… Well I'll try to do it all in one go and make this the last time. I thank you in advance for your patience.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Higeki no hajimari**

Naruto had quickly caught up with Robin as she was running towards the tree of knowledge. He could see she was panicking but couldn't tell her to calm down, after all he was just as worried himself. Naruto knew he could fight if he had to and he would be able to protect Robin, but he wasn't sure what to do if there were a lot of people or if they decided to attack the island. Naruto knew he was quite strong but he was only eight, he didn't have the experience or the power to handle an entire army. Running next to Robin he could see the tree of knowledge coming into sight.

Before Naruto could do or say anything Robin stormed into the tree. "Professor! Professor!" Everyone who was there turned around to face the little girl. Naruto stood behind her leaning against the wall next to the door. "Robin, Naruto! What are you doing here I thought I told not to..." But before he could continue Robin cut him off. "Did my mother come here?" She was still breathing heavily from running all the way to the tree and she was rather excited but scared at the same time. He could understand, having the chance to meet your mother again but doing so while everyone is in danger could cause a lot mixed feelings.

"Robin! What are you saying? Of course not!" They were obviously lying, everyone was shocked to know she was there and they were clearly averting their eyes from her. Robin looked disappointed though so she probably hadn't noticed it. She didn't let it get her down though and immediately addressed the next problem. "Oh, but professor you have to get away from here. The government is coming here to arrest all of you!" Once more the scholars were shocked but more about the fact that Robin knew about it than the fact they were going to be arrested.

"Robin, how did you... No, Robin once they come here you can't tell them you're an archeologist or that you can read poneglyph, ok?" He gave Robin a stern look until she nodded hesitantly. The man breathed a satisfied sigh of relief before turning to Naruto. He tensed slightly but her his ground as that stern look turned his way. "Naruto don't tell them anything about being involved with us on this island ok, it's for your own safety." He desperately wanted to disagree but he got the same look as Robin, in the end he couldn't keep it up and turned away nodding slightly. A strong feeling of anticipation churned in his stomach and it wasn't the good kind.

It hadn't even been minutes after having agreed to the stern look and soldiers barged into the tree of knowledge. In an orderly fashion they started apprehending the archeologists, it took Naruto everything he had not to start yelling at them for doing so.

"You are all suspected of doing forbidden research on poneglyphs! Resist and we will be forced to use violence!" Guns were held up pointed towards every adult in the room. All of the scholars listened and they were each taken outside slowly. Naruto and Robin had to follow them but were not cuffed because they were children and at the least not suspected of being involved in their research.

Soon after everyone was gathered outside, the soldiers entered the tree and started to throw books on the ground under the guise of searching for evidence. All of the scholars tried to stay calm but some could not handle it and yelled for them to stop ravaging the books and precious pieces of history.

Naruto clenched his hands until blood poured out trying not to interfere. He knew he would make things worse but he felt the burning need to help. Slowly he felt something slide into his hands and looked up to see Robin holding his hand with the same expression. She was scared.

Scared of what might happen to them but mostly of what might happened to the rest of their friends.

"WE FOUND IT" Naruto's blood ran cold and he hoped it wasn't what he thought. "WE FOUND THE PONEGLYPH!" Everything seemed to almost slowdown in an agonizing slow pace. It felt as if his had heart stopped. If they found the poneglyph there would be no way for them to prove they weren't studying it. For a moment he thought it couldn't get any worse but he was soon proven wrong as a loud voice cut through the air and his numb state of mind.

"HAHA, good work, oresama Spandyne captured the person who is the cause of everything!" A man exclaimed while laughing in a ridiculously manner as he threw the woman, whom he was holding by the hair roughly, onto the ground. "Now as we have proof of you doing forbidden research on this island I can officially tell you, you are all to be executed! Hwaahanaha." Naruto and Robin looked at the man with disgust, the guy seemed to love making people suffer and that poor woman was very beat up.

Before anything else could happen professor Clover stood up. He had a resolute look in his eyes, determined to do something. "I request to speak with the heads of the world, the gorosei, before we are executed. We have a hypothesis on the void of a hundred years." Spandyne thought about it for a moment before agreeing with a snort. He motioned for the men to pick up the woman, but before they could she forced herself to stand up and follow them looking in their direction.

They were getting ready for what was going to happen, but Naruto could see Robin tearing up and shaking, she was scared and when he looked at his own hands he saw the same. He was scared of losing more of the people he cared about and of being unable to save them, if it came to it he would probably attack.

He started to get ready but before Robin and Naruto could do even try to do anything. "ROBIN, NARUTO!" They turned to see professor Clover. "Get away from here, they are putting up an evacuation boat down by the village, you two have nothing to do with us." They started to argue as neither wanted to leave. "NO! You both have to get away from here, if you hear my story you will become sinners." The man was firm on this as Clover turned to Spandyne with a fierce look. The other man, who with the smallest amount of common sense he had, motioned for some soldiers to take the kids away. Naruto wanted to intervene and help them but stopped when he saw all of the scholars looking at them and shaking their heads. Telling them to be safe, he froze and suddenly found himself unable to disobey. He looked around and saw the woman looking at them with many emotions on her face, he wondered why she would look at them like that but shook of the thought.

They were slowly taken away, but as soon as they were outside Naruto pressed a pressure point on the arm that was holding him and as soon as he was released he ducked and stuck out his leg tripping the man. He jumped up and dodged a quick attack from the man that was holding Robin, but because he was holding onto someone else he couldn't make any fast movements and Naruto hit him on the back of his neck on the nerves rendering him unconscious.

Soon after the man he had tripped stood up and charged at Naruto, the man tried to hit him in the face. Thinking he had Naruto cornered after he had fallen down the man let his guard down. Naruto though noticed this and used his speed to get behind the man and kicked him in between his shoulder blades rendering him unconscious. The man had hardly noticed the boy move and regretted letting down his guard.

Naruto brushed the invisible dirt of his clothes and held out his hand to help Robin up. She took his hand and looked at the men in awe. "Wow, Naruto you're really strong, I knew you were but I've never seen you actually fight." He blushed and smiled sheepishly before returning to a serious expression, Robin doing the same. They stood up and walked to the corner of the building they were behind and started to peep on the discussion, ready to burst in and help the professor and the rest if they needed help.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"NARUTO, ROBIN!" She looked up as she hears professor Clover scream those names. She saw Robin standing there with Naruto standing next to her. She could finally see her daughter, but she could never tell her. She would never make her live her life as the daughter of a criminal.

She saw them being carried off by the soldiers, the thing that she really wanted to do right that moment was to run to Robin and give her a big hug, tell her how much Olvia missed her and wanted take her away from here, after that she wanted to walk up to Naruto and ask him what happened to her best friend, but she knew that chance wouldn't come. She felt something cold touch her hands, looking down she realized she was crying slightly, she didn't care though. She continued looking toward the children but noticed that Naruto was staring at her, she looked at the little boy and realized he didn't look that well, both of them didn't look that well. The both of them were thin and small, she didn't know how old Naruto was exactly but she knew Robin should be taller than she was. They also had very old clothes. Naruto was wearing some shorts that had holes in them, you couldn't see them immediately but if you continued looking you'd see that every bit of cloth on his body was worn. He didn't seem to care though, he was also wearing a blue shirt, and well it was probably a blue shirt now it was kind of grayish.

She turned slightly to see Robin better, she was wearing a purple dress that looked clean, but just as with Naruto you could see it was worn and getting dirty. She wondered what kind life they had had until now. She felt slightly guilty, but knew that they had to continue their study. If she could she would make it up to them but otherwise she would make sure they left here alive!

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Robin and Naruto were peeking from behind the wall and listening in on the conversation. Naruto had heard that they would be sinners if they heard, but if nobody knew they had listened in on them it wouldn't matter. And Robin seemed to want to listen no matter what and he had decided to protect her and stay by her side. He got a bit sad when he thought about his old home but shook his head and turned his attention back to the clearing where professor clover was talking.

"Oooh, the rudeness. Bastard you're talking to the leaders of the world here" he heard Spandyne scream. If what was happening wasn't so serious, Naruto knew he would have burst into laughter. "Ne Robin, why is the old guy so hysteric?" She seemed incredulous at the fact that he hadn't been listening at all. "Well, professor Clover apparently insulted the people on the phone, but I can't hear what they are saying over the phone." Naruto nodded and concentrated on his ears, he could faintly hear what they were saying and told Robin every bit he heard, while she explained some of the things he didn't understand.

"If you read the poneglyphs the revival of the ancient weapons will bring about a crisis for the world. Even if you bear no ill will, there may be other who will use them in such a fashion." The man on the other side of the phone said, but before he could continue he was interrupted by professor clover.

"No matter what lies in the past, humans create history and thus they must accept that. If we come to know things without feeling fear, we may be able to create some form of counter measure"

"That is mere idealism, professor Clover."

"Is that so, I think you are saying you can't because it's not convenient for you to accept this." The guy on the phone stayed silent, so professor clover continued. "Nowadays the truth we wished to know most is, to know the poneglyphs reason for existence opposed to their contents. In the past why would people use text on mineral ore? Perhaps they wished to convey something to the future. If they etched history onto broken up stones and spread them throughout the world they probably couldn't leave behind paper or books, because they may have thought that their message would get destroyed, correct? In other words, there is clear evidence the people that left behind the stone had an 'enemy'.

"What is it you wish to say, professor Clover?" Naruto noticed the voice on the other side sounded slightly nervous, normal people would probably have missed. Heck even he wasn't sure he heard it.

"If we assume that these people were destroyed by their 'enemy', then their 'enemy' would continue to live on in history. This may seem unexpected but... 800 years ago, right after the '100 years of blank pages', the world government was born." Naruto could hear the person on the other side of the telephone gasp slightly but professor Clover continued. "If the 'destroyed people's enemy' had become the world government, then I believe that the '100 years of blank pages' were erased by the world government's hands as inconvenient history! When we read the texts about the distant past on the poneglyphs, we learned of the existence of a single country... One of which there is now no trace of. But what we determined from the texts, was a great civilization. At one point, they seemed to boast having great power, but at this point any information about this country has been thoroughly erased. Most likely they may have come to understand that they would be defeated by the alliance of nations that would later come to be named as the world government, and so they entrusted that knowledge to the future by carving the whole truth into stones, the stones which we now know as 'poneglyphs'!"

"I see ... That is an audacious hypothesis professor" professor Clover seemed unaffected by the comment and continued on.

"The ancient weapons are truly a threat to the world... However! The greater threat to the government would be revealing the history, ideas and even the existence of that country. The power that they had! After all nobody but 'her' had been able to decipher what was on the stones. And though I am unable to fully explain that threat until all the mysteries have been unraveled. However, the name of that country was ..." "BANG!" Naruto and Robin watched as the professors body slowly collapsed, he could hear Robin scream next to him and run to the professor, he himself made a move to follow but before he could even move he heard the sentence that made him snap.

"Ohara knows too much, don't let a single person get away." And before he knew it Naruto was running full speed towards the clearing, not even seconds later he arrived in a yellow blur and started knocking all of the soldiers unconscious. He was lucky they were all untrained rookies who barely knew how to hold a gun.

While Naruto was taking down all of the soldiers in his rage, Robin was sitting next to the professor as he drew his last breath. She screamed and cried for him to stay but he didn't take notice and just started to speak to her. "Robin, you shouldn't be here, where is Naruto?" She sniffed and tried to wipe away her tears. "He got mad after seeing you shot and is fighting the soldiers." his eyes widened and he tried to see where the kid was, but he hadn't the strength left for it. "Robin you have to stop Naruto, if you get him to stop you might still be allowed to go to the refugee ship." She shook her head and started crying more. "Robin, listen to me if you don't stop Naruto now he'll be in a whole lot of trouble", she nodded and slowly stood up before walking to where she saw Naruto fighting.

While Robin was walking towards Naruto, Spandyne saw the kid take down ten of his adult soldiers. "That kid is a monster, gotta do this quickly." he took out a golden colored snail and pressed the button on top with a smirk, "buster call time!". The scholars close to him briefly wondered what he did.

"NARUTO!" He stopped after he heard Robin scream and saw her crying. He ran to her and gave her a hug before noticing he himself was also crying, they sat down and let their tears pour. Slowly the comfort they brought one another took over, tears were reduced to mere shakes and the panic receded. "Are you alright now?" Robin asked him, Naruto nodded and they stood up. They tried to walk back to professor Clover but that Spandyne guy stood between them. Naruto moved a step in front of Robin to protect her and glared at the man who had caused all this trouble.

"Now now that was quite the show you showed us there boy, why don't you tell me how you took down ten grown men when you yourself are only what... Six?" The arrogant man asked smirking widely. What he didn't notice was the growing tick mark on Naruto's forehead as he continued, "I mean seriously do have a weapon hidden somewhere? You better answer me brat before I kick you back to your mommy." That was the last straw, Naruto glared at him so fiercely that if looks could kill he would have been dead a million times over. That wasn't what had scared Spandyne scared though. Despite the cowardly acts the man had involved him he was ultimately a marine. No what had scared the man was something entirely different.

Naruto felt the rage build inside him and was having trouble containing it. But he hadn't noticed his eyes had turned a bloody red with slit pupils. Someone else had though. "MONSTER, AAH DON'T KILL ME!" Spandyne screamed as he cowardly ran to the other side of the clearing. The same place that woman still was. Naruto took a couple of breaths and tried to calm down, his eyes slowly turning back to their normal sky blue. Only a few red spots remaining.

Spandyne who had arrived on the other side of the clearing ordered his man to disperse and take the woman with them. The man didn't want anything more to do with these little... these little demons!

Of course this little decision had not gone unnoticed by Robin. Spandyne dragged the woman harshly behind him. The woman though looked Robin in the eyes for a couple of seconds. Just as quickly she averted her eyes again but not before Robin felt something familiar, she couldn't place the feeling but she recognized it. Before she even consciously thought about what to say she blurted out the first thought on her mind. "ARE YOU MY MOTHER?" The woman stopped for a moment for a moment and turned.

Both Naruto and Robin saw the recognition in her eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came when Spandyne laughed. "Haha, you have a daughter? That's hilarious!" Naruto clenched his hands so as not to kick the guy down the gutter. This was important to Robin so he would remain where he was. "No I think you have the wrong person." The woman said but he could see some of the tears streaming down her face and all the sympathizing faces of the scholars. That woman was Robin's mother and was trying to protect her. Even after all these years...

Robin didn't want to give up though. This woman had to be her mother, that sense of familiarity and comfort. She tried to hold back the burning feeling in her eyes and clenched her hands in the same manner as Naruto had done.

"I'm Robin, even though I'm a lot bigger, do you really not remember me? I always waited for you to come back! Are you really not my mother? I spent all my time studying, I became an archeologist, I can read poneglyphs and together with Naruto we can decrypt and read them!" Naruto slapped himself at that, she really shouldn't have said that but he knew this was important to her. He heard Spandyne yell something like 'those kids can decipher and read poneglyphs together?! 'So he took a defensive position next to her and waited for her to finish. He wouldn't let that jerk ruin this moment!

"So can we please be together? I don't want to be without a family anymore." She yelled. At this point the woman couldn't take it anymore and dropped on her knees. Tears were now freely rolling down her cheeks and dropping onto the grass.

There was a moment of anticipation but before anything else could be said bombs were shot all over the island. The tree of knowledge was hit too and the scholars started to panic. They scrambled to save anything that they could reach in the tree, throwing it into the lake next to it.

Naruto reached for Robin's shoulder, shaking it slightly. She turned to face him and he nodded briefly in Olvia's direction. She smiled gratefully and nodded before turning back to the woman and running towards her. Naruto himself turned back to face Spandyne in case he did anything. The man was ranting angrily.

"Damn, they've started the bombardment already, should've waited with the buster call until I was of the island." Spandyne turned around as he was approached by someone. "Sir, what should we do with the girl and the prisoner?" A young soldier said as he turned to Spandyne, the man though just shrugged him off and ran away screaming; "leave them here, my life is more important." The men hesitated for a moment as they looked at the scene around them. Were they really doing the right thing? Many of the men didn't agree but really, they didn't have much of a choice.

Naruto watched Spandyne leave with all the soldiers before walking back to where Robin was. Olvia was hugging her and Robin was crying with all her might. This time though they were tears of happiness and relief at having found her mother. He himself had to dry a few stray tears before coming to stand next to them.

Robin looked up and smiled at him, "Naruto, I'd like you to meet my mother." He gave her a patented wide smile before turning to Olvia. "Nice to meet you I'm Uzumaki D. Naruto." She nodded and gave him a relieved smile. "Un, I know, your face is identical to that of Kushina, though your hair and eyes are probably from your dad." She chuckled slightly as Naruto's eyes lit up at the mention of his own parents. He gave her a foxy grin, "thanks, that's really nice to know." But before they could continue talking Saul came running out of the forest calling for the both of them.


	7. A sad goodbye and loneliness

**Chapter 7**

 **Wakare to kodoku**

When the shook started to shake around them in pulses everyone looked up to Saul running towards them. Surprisingly nobody was surprised as to why they all knew one another. Well except for one, but that was for an entirely different reason. "SAUL! what are you doing here?" Olvia asked rather surprised and worried. "I was'ere shipwrecked but more importantly ya 'ave ta ge'away from here, da have warships surrounding da entire island. One sign and da'll all start blasting this island of da map!" He continued to ramble on for a moment but Olvia cut him off, not feeling the usual enjoyment as seeing her friend fumble with his words.

"Saul, they've already gotten the sign to start bombarding." He gave her an incredulous look that, as if wondering how she could be acting so stupid. "Then why haven't ya left yet?!" She sighed and pointed to the tree of knowledge. A flash of understanding spread over Saul's face and quickly turned into a look of sadness. His entire posture changed to a determined yet almost resigned position. Nodding resolutely the both of them turned back to the children standing next to them.

Olvia looked down to where Robin was with a small smile. "Robin, you can read poneglyphs? You must have studies hard, I'm proud of you. Ne Robin… if you want to study them you should only if you want to ok?" Robin smiled brightly while Naruto felt a pit grow in his stomach. He recognized the body language of both adults and realized what was about to happen. Before he could do anything he was picked up and held tightly in Saul's arms. He tried to escape but a giant's arms were quite a bit stronger and before Naruto could decide on any possible escape routes, Saul continued and picked up Robin as well.

Also realizing what was about to happen, Robin started to panic. "Mom, don't go. Please take us with yo!" Olvia smiled at her sadly and shook her head, "gomen Robin, Naruto. I have to stay here and help the scholar collect the remaining books, I'll help treat professor Clover." She started to turn around but before she did so entirely she froze. Olvia looked at them one last time and the both of them could see hints of tears in her eyes as she looked at them.

"I hope both of you live a happy life, Saul please take them away from here."

The giant nodded and started to turn away. By this time both Naruto and Robin were panicking and tried everything they could to stop the giant from separating them. Nothing seemed to work.

"Saul please take us back! Please." The both of them begged and plead, but the giant didn't listen and continued running. Naruto could see the giant pressing his jaws together tightly in an attempt to hide the bitterness. Saul had technically known Olvia better than the both of them. Logically Naruto knew that this must hurt the giant as much as them but at that moment… he couldn't make himself care all that much. It was all too much at the moment.

Robin who was held next to him had tears pouring down her face. The girl was panicking in every way and only seemed to get more distraught when she realized nothing could be done. After a moment she flung herself onto Naruto's shoulder and proceeded to break down entirely. Both in sadness and sorrow.

"Ne did ya know, ya mum once told me something. "It's not dat Ohara wanted ta reveal da history, they just wanted ta hear da voices of da past. 'History is somethang dat is inherited, otherwise it is forgotten.' Ya mum would want ya to always remember this place." Naruto, deep in his thought, could only faintly hear what their friend was saying. He might not have been here for long but it was the closest he had had to a family and a real home for as long as he could remember, he cursed himself for not being strong enough to protect everyone important to him. He stared quietly towards the fire that kept spreading over the island until he could no longer see straight because of the tears making everything blurry. Next to him Robin hadn't removed her eyes from either the sight in front of them. Yet despite all this destruction, despite all of this tragedy, Naruto couldn't get out of Saul's grip. Despite his determination to protect everyone he couldn't muster the strength to do so. Despite his love for the island he had no way to save it from destruction. And lastly despite having told himself to protect Robin he couldn't stop her tears.

Holding both kids in his hands Saul thought back about when he first met Olvia. He had been vice admiral for the marines and was out on a mission to apprehend a boat of scholars. They were illegally researching poneglyphs and that where he met her. His crew had killed everyone on the ship despite his orders to capture them. She had been the only one captured alive. Saul had asked her whether they wanted to create those ancient weapons so badly that they would resort to going against the law. Olvia had replied that they themselves were just scared of a past they knew nothing about.

Later he found out that admiral Sengoku had given the order to kill everyone on that ship, Saul had approached him about the scholars and Sengoku told him they were sending someone with the authority to call on a buster call to apprehend every scholar. He figured they were just going to get rid of them and was shocked. The buster call was a very cruel method and rarely used even by those who had been given the authority to. Pressing that single button meant calling upon an entire fleet of marine battle ships that destroy everything within sight. No obstacle is big enough, so long as the target is eliminated.

It even went as far as to check in the aftermath. When the island has been destroyed vice admirals will be send to shore to finish the job against any human still alive. It was absolutely horrid.

That night he went to Olvia's prison and asked for her story. She was slightly suspicious at first but slowly she started to tell him her story. It had shocked him to the very core that the marines were capable of something like this. It had felt as if the ground had been pulled away from beneath his feet.

Without a second though he freed her and ran away from the marines. He could no longer obey orders when he knew they were rotten from the inside out.

Saul ran on checking his hands every now making sure the kids were alright, he felt bad for them but they had to live. They had hardly lived their lives yet and he would make sure they survived.

Naruto heard a brief whistle like sound and looked up to see a cannon ball that had been shot their way. His normal reaction would have been to dodge but he could do nothing as Saul held them tightly in his hands and took the attack to his face. "SAUL!" They both yelled fearing for the giant. "Dereshishishishi, don't ya worry, Naruto, Robin, am fine an I'll get ya away from'er." Never once collapsing onto the ground Saul picked up the pace and ran towards the beach where they had first met him. When the both of them had calmed down a bit, Naruto could clearly see the danger Saul was in while doing this for them and was prepared to help in anyway he could. Robin was panicking a bit but trying to keep them under control. Neither of them had noticed the tears that continued to pour from their eyes.

Saul continued running and he looked like he okay, but Naruto could smell the blood that was pouring down his face and it wasn't stopping. They were quite a distance away from the village now and the island wasn't attacked as much outside the village and the tree of knowledge. It was a good thing because it meant Saul wouldn't get hurt as much. Naruto cursed once more mentally, he hated being so weak, he couldn't do a thing! Here Saul was protecting them with his life and they couldn't do anything! But he was soon shaken from his thoughts as a loud voice cut through the air. "Ice block PARTISAN!" Not a moment later Saul stumbled onto the ground. He kept his careful hold on the both of them and landed on his stomach with his arm stretched in front of him. Naruto could see ice creeping around Saul's feet.

"Kuzan!" Saul said as he looked at the man standing behind him. Naruto tried to get a look at the man but he had black glasses on, a black trench coat and a blue pirate cap. Except for his afro like hair there wasn't much he could actually see of the guy. "My, my, my... we can't have an ex-marine interfere with the buster call, now can we?" The man Kuzan spoke.

He felt Saul shake and wondered if he was scared, but that thought left with the wind as he saw Saul's face. It was red with anger and frustration. "Kuzan! Can ya honestly be proud of dis attack!? It's strange, ya should know it as well, all dis just ta create an example. Just for dat deir obliterating Ohara!"

"If this is for the greater good of the world then I have no opinion, they are breaking the rules after all. The thing called "justice" changes shape from where you stand, so I won't blame you for a different justice. But if you interfere I cannot leave you be." But as soon as those words left the man's mouth the unspeakable happened.

The refugee ship exploded after having been attacked by a marine ship.

It was sinking and burning like there was no tomorrow and for the many people on board there probably wasn't. Everyone was shocked and Saul was shaking even more than before. "THIS IS YA SO CALLED JUSTICE?!" He shouted as he charged and tried to punch the man.

"I wasn't going to take it as far as that idiot!" Kuzan said in frustration as he dodged.

Saul turned around and started to run away again. "I have ta get ya guys ta safety, dat is my priority!" But he didn't get very far in his attempt as the giant froze up. Naruto heard the other man's voice softly from behind them. "Ice time capsule". Saul let go of them and put them on the ground, "Robin, Naruto! Go ya need ta get away from'ere." But both of them shook their heads and Naruto stood slightly in front of Robin to protect her. "No we're staying here with you, we won't leave here Saul!" He shouted with Robin behind him nodding not trusting her own voice. "No, I'm done for but ya guys need ta get away from'ere. Remember wha ah told ya about not be'ng born alone, ya'll find new friends and new people who'll stay by ya side". They were listening to what he said but both were shaking their heads not wanting to listen this time though it was Robin who spoke. "Yada Saul! I don't want to leave everyone I want to stay together, there's nothing for us across the sea. We just want to stay here!" But Saul wouldn't give in and he continued, "someday both of ya will meet ya nakama, da'll protect ya and help ya, so keep moving and don't look back!" Naruto looked behind him and saw the ice slowly moving up Saul body, it was slowly covering him until soon there would be nothing left to cover. He wanted to do something but there was nothing to be done, he didn't know any fire jutsu and he couldn't do a thing without hurting Saul's body too. Saul kept on telling them about how they had to leave before he started laughing.

"DERESHISHISHISHI, always laugh and things'll get better, now go Robin, Naruto." Slowly they were both moving backwards feeling hopeless and unable to do anything as they watched their friend get covered entirely in ice. "Both of ya be happy." Was the last thing they heard as he was completely frozen, Robin yelled for him in panic but the giant was entirely frozen. Naruto who clenched his teeth realized there was nothing they could do. Honoring the giants wish he pulled Robin by the arm and both of them started to run away with tears pouring from their eyes.

They continued running until they reached the beach where they had first met Saul, all kinds of memories came back but none that would ever happen again. They were now alone, all they had was one another. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this would have happened if he hadn't come to this island. They kept running but soon Naruto stopped and dragged Robin behind him. He took on a defensive position in front of her. But before Robin could ask him why, she noticed the man named Kuzan sitting on the beach.

"Well well, you were faster then I thought." Naruto looked at him fiercely while studying for a way out of the situation but the man caught on. "You're pretty amazing for a little boy you know, sensing me form that far, taking on a fighting stance in a couple of seconds and already planning your escape? Makes me wonder what kind of life you've had until now. But anyhow I've decided to let you go." Naruto stared at him incredulously.

As if picking up on Naruto's hesitance the man continued. "Justice is a very versatile word, with many sides. You two are the legacy Saul left behind and this time I agree with his "justice". I will let you go, whether you two will seek revenge or try to live a life as normal as possible. But know that if you ever do anything wrong, I will be the first "enemy" to catch you two." He pointed ahead to a small boat laying on the beach. "I've made a path of ice, if you follow that you should reach the next island by tomorrow."

Naruto cautiously made his way around the man holding tightly onto Robin's hand. Both of them glared at the man partly in hatred but also in sadness, for everything that had happened. Naruto took the boat and told Robin to get in and started pushing it into the water. They slowly floated away but he was still on his guard for anything that could happen. As they got further and further though they saw the island burning with everything on it.

The giant tree of knowledge that had always been there had collapsed and was burning furiously, all the boats had gone to surround the front of the island leaving them with an escape route. Both watched with tears in their eyes as their precious home slowly burned to ashes.


	8. Twenty years later

**Chapter 8**

 **Nijuu-nen-go saki**

Standing on top of the ocean was a person, he had sun kissed blond hair and eyes far bluer than the surrounding waters and skies. The three whiskers on each of his cheeks made him seem similar to cat or maybe a fox. As the person looked out over the ocean he seemed to notice something and turned around to run back to what looked to be a giant turtle drifting a couple of meter behind him at a leisurely pace.

"Ro! That storm on horizon will turn here in an hour or so, what do you want to do?" The guy asked the woman sitting on the giant turtle in her chair under a parasol. She looked up and smiled at him gently "I guess we'll have to take shelter at whiskey peak and hope it passes." She ducked towards the turtle's eyes and ears before giving him a few hand signs and verbal instructions. Meanwhile the man's face had taken to looking disgusted by her suggestion and turned to sit down on the back of the turtle. He sat close to the neck and in front of the woman's chair before facing her.

"Eeeh, but I don't want to go there! All those arrogant people there do is brag about themselves." He cried childishly. It was for a good reason though! Who'd ever want to visit Whiskey peak willingly?

The woman chuckled slightly and turned to face him, "Naruto I know you don't like it there, but it's better to not take the chance with that storm. Besides I have a feeling something interesting will happen there." Almost immediately after as she said that Naruto perked up. "Really? Well if you say so Robin, your instincts are on par with mine so I guess I'll have something to look forward to." He smiled in a manner that radiated satisfaction before laying down on his back. Robin moved to join him and soon they were sitting next to each other enjoying the last bit of sun as the clouds slowly began to cover them one at a time.

Naruto was wearing black sandals with black trousers. The trousers had pockets on the hips and close to the knees, wrapped around his right thigh was a bandage with a kunai holder strapped to it. He was wearing a baggy zip up sweater with high collar that covered half his neck and hung loosely around it. It was white in color with a big red stripe in the middle that covered everything from his middle to his chest. On his left shoulder was a swirl patterned patch in gray. All of his clothing were chosen not to hinder any of his movements and weren't too obvious in color.

Naruto had grown quite a lot over the last twenty years, his hair had grown a little bit as the locks now reached just around the ears. Because his hair had grown out slightly it fell down a bit more and didn't look quite as messy as it had been before. Though it was still quite messy by normal standards. He was now 6,4 foot tall.

Robin was a blue eyed woman, her eyes weren't as clear and innocent as Naruto's seemed at first glance though. They had more of a darker tone to them and seemed much more mysterious, she had black hair that just about hit her shoulder. She was wearing quite the revealing outfit. Her entire outfit was based on cowgirl style. She was wearing a purple mini skirt that just barely reach halfway her thighs, it had white ornaments hanging from the edges and around her waist was a strip of green and sea blue colored fabric similar to a belt. It was layered with small ornaments and little jewels. Her top was a purple cleavage-exposing corset that had laces down the middle showing quite a bit of her assets. On her left upper arm, she had a small purple bracelet like jewelry with the same white ornaments as the ones hanging from her skirt. She also had a matching purple cowboy hat with high heeled purple boots which reached just under her knees, they didn't seem to hinder her despite the fact she was on a turtle.

Robin had also grown a lot in the years, she didn't reach Naruto in height but was still very tall for a woman reaching 6,2 foot. Her womanly features had grown to be very attractive, she could probably use them to get men to do what she wanted them to but Naruto wouldn't allow it. Robin was personally flattered by the way Naruto was protective over her, it was always reassuring to know he cared so much about her. She did the same thing though, he was just so gullible when it came to women and their, sometimes, less then pure methods. Finally, her hair reached slightly under her shoulder blades and she had bangs that stopped just above her eyes.

Robin smiled at what Naruto had said, "that's sweet of you to say, but you know we wouldn't have survived this long if it weren't for those instincts." He gave her a sheepish smile and looked up, his eyes darkening for a bit. "Ne Robin?" "Hai?" She said following his stare. "Do you think what Saul said is true?" She thought for a bit before sighing, "I don't know Naruto, it might be… but it's been far too long to expect anything. We've been alone for twenty years now and managed to survive. I don't think we can afford to let our guard down. You saw what happened to everyone that became involved with us."

Following in Naruto's lead her eyes darkened as she remembered all the times they had gotten help from people. If they were normal citizens they would be betrayed for their bounty, if they were pirates they would be used for their knowledge until the marines caught up. No matter where they were the marines always caught up in the end. They had been lucky that Vice admiral Kuzan hadn't been seen since Ohara.

Naruto nodded at her logic, but seconds after his fist shot up into the air, in an enthusiastic manner. "Don't worry Ro! Even with nobody else we still have each other!" He smiled his usual sun like smile. She returned it with her tranquil one, "yeah, thanks Naru." She went to lie back down, Naruto followed and they waited for the turtle to reach whiskey peak as he slowly drifted over the ocean into the direction they needed to go.

Naruto stared up into the sky as he remembered the last few years. It hadn't been easy for them since they had run from Ohara. Both of them were incredibly sad, having lost the people they came to love. Naruto was especially disappointed in himself for not being able to protect them. Eventually they came to the conclusion that they would have to live and survive if only to honor Olvia and Saul's last wishes.

The both of them traveled for a bit trying to get as far away from Ohara as possible. It was only after a couple of weeks of traveling and living on food Naruto managed to gather or steal, the latter of which they had not enjoyed doing, they reached a small village called Maneryl. It was very peaceful and pretty isolated, so they decided to stay there. They found a farm and the couple living there was kind enough to let them work and stay there.

Everything had been fine for a while, Naruto and Robin worked and the man and woman provided some food for them. They even had dinner with them sometimes! They seemed really nice and Robin and Naruto had thought that staying there wouldn't be so bad, but not long after Naruto heard them talking about exchanging Robin for her bounty.

Both Naruto and Robin had apparently each gotten a bounty put on their heads, according to the description Robin had sunk six of the buster call ships and if seen she was to be notified to the authorities. She had an amount 79,000,000 beri on her head, Naruto had known it was a ridiculous amount even if he hadn't handled many actual beri yet since leaving the elemental nations. Naruto also had a same amount of bounty as they had been together that day, but his picture was a blur. When he was fighting he hadn't been entirely visible and thanks to his experience with attention he had always taken a position away from sight, behind someone or something. He was slightly relieved though when realized that. This had left some options open for them, the description had said that he was Robin's accomplice and that he was highly dangerous and not to be engaged in combat. He had snorted at the last sentence. Spandyne really was one big coward, his fist clenched as he thought of that overly irritating man and all the things he'd done. Sadly enough, Naruto's description had been pretty much spot-on and he did have pretty notable features. Still that left a couple of options of him that Robin didn't have.

He remembered trying to keep his anger bottled up as the couple had been arguing on whether on not to hand her over. Robin and him had left that same evening before they noticed.

After that nothing changed, they had gotten several jobs and were helped in several villages but every time those people betrayed them for the amount of money on their heads. So when they finally became old enough they started to try and fulfill Robin's goal of searching for the poneglyphs. They boarded ships and had alliances with pirates. Because of their individual skills they were seen as great help to the pirates. Even if it had disgusted them to help such people, they hadn't had much of a choice, really they had nowhere else to go.

But even pirates couldn't win against the marines that somehow caught wind of Naruto and Robin every time. So they made it their code to not trust anyone besides one another, switching jobs and alliances they made their way through the grand line searching for the poneglyphs and clues on the hundred-year void.

It was only about half a year ago that they finally found a clue on a poneglyph in a country called Alabasta. The shichibukai, pirates hired by the government, Crocodile had been planning to revive the ancient weapon Pluton. He acted as if he was the hero of the country by helping to protect them from all kinds of disasters. The people there were quite desperate, they had enormous water shortages and the people are on edge as there might be a civil war starting soon. Crocodile started a secret organization called baroque works to do all of the dirty work for him as he stayed on the good side of the people there.

Naruto and Robin had come in contact with him and formed an alliance, Robin was his right hand and as she can read the poneglyphs she was quite important to Crocodile. How would he know where to find Pluton otherwise? Crocodile didn't know however that Naruto was also needed to decrypt the poneglyph, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Naruto wanted to stay by Robin's side so he had offered to be a secret operator like the unluckies, who punished those who broke the rules or reported to him if anyone discovered Crocodile's true identity. The man had agreed and allowed Naruto to stay as Robin's bodyguard to ensure her safety in exchange for him doing his job.

But that had been half a year ago, now they were still in This organization, Crocodile hadn't finished his plan yet but it was due to soon.

Naruto heard something in the distance and sat up, leaning his chin on one of his knees. He stared out at sea trying to see what he had heard. Robin followed his gaze and squinted her eyes slightly. Naruto stood up slowly and point to a direction and looked to Robin, "We're there, Whiskey Peak is in the distance and just before the storm arrived!" He showed her his trademark grin and jumped onto the turtle head, taking his usual position for when they found something or someplace interesting.

She sighed slightly but gave a small smile, she had gotten used to Naruto being jolly over the last twenty years. They had been together the entire time and she still wondered how he could stay so childish, they were twenty-eight! She suspected his maturity was lacking behind in time. She heard soft humming and saw Naruto smiling expectantly at the island as if telling it to move towards them. She chuckled and stood up, "you know it won't get any closer just because you want it to." He pouted slightly and crossed his arms, "yeah I know Ro, but that doesn't mean I don't want it to! I mean seriously no offense to chance but I've had enough of traveling by turtle on the sea." He jumped onto the ocean and stretched "I want some movement and not only be surrounded by blue…" he said as he pointed to the ocean, "blue…" this time he pointed to the sky, "and blue!" He said lastly as he pointed to his own eyes, giving her a grin. She gave him an exasperated look and he sighed, "you know what I mean and you have to admit that was pretty funny." She shrugged and shook her head before turning around and returning to her chair. "Aww come on Ro!" He jumped back onto Chance, the turtle, and sat back on his back, staring at the island from the corner of his eyes. 'I hope she doesn't mean the trouble kind of interesting.' He smirked a bit, 'though right now anything is better than doing nothing.'

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

On the island though, at that moment a group of pirates called the Strawhat Pirates had partied all night without knowing the true identity of those who occupy the island. Whiskey Peak was an island at which bounty hunters gather, though in reality it was a cover, for the island was actually one the many secret bases for Baroque Works.

A single green haired man with three swords hanging at his hip was sitting on the side of a roof in the village where he had supposedly just drunk himself to sleep. The man's nakama, the Strawhat Pirates, had all gone into a deep sleep caused by an overdose of happiness. There were various reasons, the captain had eaten himself to sleep, the navigator drunk herself unconscious, the sniper was busy telling lying stories and after he was satisfied fell asleep and the cook fainted after he got the attention of every woman there. But the green haired man himself found everything a bit suspicious so he made sure not to drink too much. Just a couple of barrels, enough that he would stay sober. Now he was following their 'entertainers' to wherever it was they were going.

"WHAT! That kid has a bounty of 30,000,000 beri?! That must be a joke." A dark skinned muscular woman yelled. The green haired man looked to where he saw them talking. There were four people, the dark skinned woman who had just scream, a blue haired girl, a man with blond hair and a crown and an old very broad man with hair that conductors at an opera would always have in pictures.

"It's is foolish, maa maa~, to judge a pirate by their appearances, miss Monday." The conductor half sang half spoke to miss Monday. She blushed a bit and looked down ashamed. "But in any case, they are all out cold so this should make an excellent report for the boss. Now confiscate all the treasure in their ship and make sure to tie them all up, the bounty decreases by thirty percent if they're dead, the marines like their public executions after all."

The green haired swordsman decided that it was time to interfere and made himself known. "Sorry but would you mind letting those guys sleep for a bit longer? They're all tired from their journey here." He smirked widely as all four of them quickly looked up to where they heard the voice interrupt them in surprise.

"Wha.. Why aren't you passed out cold from earlier?!" The conductor said.

The swordsman's smirk grew even wider as drew his sword and held it in front of him, the blade shining in the moonlight. "A true swordsman never allows alcohol to take control of him." He stood up and smiled in slightly creepy way, "so that's how it was... This place was a den of bounty hunters and you take advantage of over-confident rookie pirate who just entered the grand line...!" He turned his head slightly and studied his surroundings, "looks like there's about a hundred of you. You'll be a fine opponent for me, Baroque Works!"

"!" Everyone gasped.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Ne Ro?" She looked up from her book, "nani Naru?" He turned to her and pointed to the island that had come significantly closer. "Why is there smoke rising from the island, is there a fire or something? Or maybe even a fight?" She chuckled a bit when she saw how eager he looked at the prospect of a fight. "Yeah probably but Naruto you know there are hundreds of bounty hunters there, by the time you get there, there won't be much left over and even then they're probably not in your league." He nodded and sighed for a bit. "Yeah I know Ro, but it's just so boring here!" He stared at the island and saw things exploding and smoke going up. He thought for a bit and suddenly he had an idea. "Ne Ro, can I go and see what's happening and then I'll meet you at the port later?"

She took a sneak towards the island and thought about it, it was better than having him on board being bored. He had been bearable on the way here but when Naruto became fully bored bad things tended to happen. For a grown man he could get really childish sometimes. So she did what she thought best and nodded. Smiling when she saw his face light up, "thanks! I'll be back when you reach the port. It might be later if my job comes into play." He yelled at her before jumping onto the water and dashing away in a flash of yellow.

Naruto moved swiftly over the surface of the water with hardly any ripples forming as his feet touched the surface. Over the years he had gotten much better at chakra control and if he said so himself he was a decent fighter. His speed had increased significantly and it was his source of pride. He could honestly say that in the last twenty years nobody had managed to catch up with him or make a new picture of him. His bounty picture still remained as the young flash it had been. He had managed to keep them from taking new pictures of Robin but that was mostly because it was hard recognizing her, the pictures show an eight-year-old and she is now a fully grown woman of twenty-eight years old. There was quite a bit difference between the two now.

After a couple of minutes running he quickly reached the port and followed the sound of fighting he heard. When he reached the plaza he saw hundreds of bounty hunters lying unconscious on the ground, he smirked slightly at the sight. 'Just what they need a single person cutting them all down to dim their arrogance a bit.' From the cuts and wounds he could see it was one person who had done so, he whistled and smiled mentally. If this guy was really that strong maybe he would put up a bit of a fight, but he quickly discarded the thought. Unless it was for defending Robin he wasn't supposed to fight or show his skills. It would call danger to them and it would be against Crocodile's direct orders to protect and inform. Besides he had managed to keep his reputation a mystery, not many people actually knew what he looked like and even less knew his capabilities.

He jumped stealthily from roof to roof making sure to keep to the shadows so that nobody noticed him. It was getting quite easy as it had been getting dark rapidly. He idly though that Robin was going to need a light to read before he returned his attention to his surroundings. After a while he found a green haired man fighting agents from baroque works that Naruto recognized. They were number agents, bounty hunters who had been chosen by Crocodile as the strongest of their group. The numbers from twelve to one signified their strength. The lower the number the stronger the person. The numbers six to one were under direct control of Crocodile while twelve to six where indirectly controlled by him as leader of the millions. The even lower thugs that were a part of baroque works.

Only the number thirteen pair was independent they were the punishment group that ensured the boss's identity stayed secret and the rules were kept. The thing though was that they were called the 'unluckies' as encountering them meant but trouble. What was really funny was that they were animals and technically Naruto was an 'unlucky' and he was part fox. All the numbers worked in pairs, a man and woman who both had a title to show their position.

The green haired man was wearing a black bandana over his head that was covering his eyes a bit on the top, it gave him a slightly demonic look. He had a white loose shirt and wore black pants with a green haramaki over it, keeping his stomach worm. Lastly he had black boots that went over his pants but never quite reached his knees.

Naruto turned his attention back to the fight and tried to stay serious but soon found himself trying to stifle his laugh. It was hilarious watching them fight, the swordsman was as far as he could tell a really strong fighter but he fought in a ridiculous way. Cutting through walls and apparently testing his new swords out against multiple opponents. When he had to fight against Mister 9 he dodged the attacks luring the guy in, well until he threw himself off the building after getting too caught up in the guys 'gutsy acrobats!' As he himself called it. And if that wasn't embarrassing enough Miss Wednesday, who was the partner of mister 9, would make up for it. She approached him on her super spot-billed duck Carue and stood up on him and used her 'miwaku memai dance' to make the swordsman fall down to his knees. It was quite a pathetic attack which consisted of using many perfumes and different kinds of smells to make herself more alluring. And she actually had him for a moment too! But then her duck refused to listen to her and ran in the opposite direction. And to add the strawberry to the cake the green guy himself was actually embarrassed to fight them!

He turned to follow them doing his best in stifling his laugh, though he had the idea he wasn't doing a very good job. Luckily it became a bit more serious after that, Mister 9 managed to occupy one of the swordsman's arms and Miss Wednesday had gotten the guy's captain as a hostage. Mister 8 was standing on the building next to him having a clear shot with his 'hair-gun' as Naruto called it, the man had guns hidden in his hair. For a moment every one of them smirked and let their guard down. Naruto sighed and used the opportunity to sit back down. He knew this wasn't going to end well for them.

And as soon as he thought so the swordsman pulled the chain that held his arm to him swinging Mister 9 who was holding onto it right into Mister 8 allowing him to charge for Miss Wednesday while saving his captain in the process. Mister 9 who had been hit by Mister 8's bullet was unconscious and Miss Wednesday had been hit unconscious by the green haired man. What Naruto hadn't expected though is for the guy to use his captain as a trampoline to cut down Mister 8. It was pretty funny to see, but he had finished laughing and wanted to see what would happen. Every one of the Baroque Work agents on the island had been rendered unable to battle.

Naruto watched as the swordsman dumped Mister 8 and Miss Monday who had been lying unconscious on that building off the corner of the roof and calling it cleaning up. After that the guy just sat down and started to drink. Naruto had to stifle another laugh but this time the guy noticed it as he turned around muttering, 'I thought I heard something'.

Naruto looked up to the moon and calculated the time, 'shit I've been here for far too long Ro will be at the coast soon!' He looked towards the swordsman sitting there one last time before turning tail and jumping on the roofs towards the port.

As he got closer he saw Chance only just drifting into the port. He ran to the side of the pier and sat down waiting for him to approach. Several minutes later Robin and Naruto were sitting together on the side of the pier and he was telling her about what he had seen. She laughed a couple of times as he told her about how ridiculous Mister 9 and Miss Wednesday were acting. But after talking for a while Naruto noticed someone coming and stood up staring into an ally, Robin noticed and looked as well. "What's wrong Naruto?" He kept looking until he realized who it was.

"Don't worry Ro, it's just the unluckies." He said as two animals with big black glasses on walked and flew, respectively, out of the alley. One of them was an otter in a white little wetsuit with pink-purple polka dots all over it. The other was a vulture and while she didn't have a suit, it would probably be in the way of her flying, she was wearing some kind of bathing cap with the same colors as her partner. They were called Mister 13 and Miss Friday. They were in a way his partners.

As soon as they saw Naruto they ran towards him, the otter climbing onto his shoulder while the vulture stayed by his feet. The vulture gave Robin several drawn pictures while the otter explained what had happened to Naruto as he was the only one who could understand them. He thought it had to do with his fox side but he couldn't be sure of that.

After several minutes of explaining he nodded in understanding as Mister 13 finished his story. Both animals did a short bow to Naruto and left. Robin turned to Naruto motioning for him to start explaining as she handed him the photos. He took the photos and looked at them for a while, on it were Miss Wednesday now publicly known as Nefertari Vivi, the Strawhat captain Luffy, the swordsman Zoro and the navigator Nami. He turned to Robin to explain.

"According to the unluckies Miss Wednesday was actually the princess of Alabasta disguised as a Baroque Works agent to gather information, she figured out Crocodile's identity. Mister 8 was her accomplice if you can call it that as he is apparently her caretaker. They requested help from the Strawhat pirates. The other girl Nami accepted, but only if they would be paid. The princess couldn't accept this as her country barely had any money to spare. Nami in turn refused to help but asked what was happening. Vivi explained the situation to them and said she couldn't tell them who the boss was because that would only endanger them, two seconds later though she ended up telling them on accident making them a target for the unluckies." He paused and saw Robin chuckling and he smiled as he too was thinking that it was pretty funny. He continued, "that is when the unluckies drew their faces as a portrait. Soon after they both let them know that their faces would soon be known by Crocodile. Mister 5 and Miss Valentine showed up after engaging them in battle. It was after that the unluckies left." He took a breath and stopped. "So what are we going to do?"

Robin looked him in the eyes and smirked slightly causing Naruto to shiver. Naruto was a born prankster who if it didn't bring him and Robin in any real danger would prank someone any time he could. But Robin was different she liked embarrassing and creeping out people, she brought her remarks in such a way that it caused the other people to get creeped out. Her knowledge was real and she could tell them things in exactly such a way that they would believe her. That also meant she could literally tell them anything even if it wasn't true and she made use of that. 'Whatever Ro is planning it can't be good for her victims.' He smirked, 'though it's gotta be hilarious for us.'

"Let's pay the Strawhats a visit, the princess should know who I am and you know what their next island is if they leave from here." He nodded, the next island would be Little Garden, the island of giants. He didn't really understand the name but didn't really care either, he had never had to go there. "I'd like to see what kind of people they are." She turned around and walked towards chance, "are you coming Naruto?" He followed her and Chance slowly paddled his way back out of the bay.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Zoro ran through the street, his stupid captain had used his usual non existing brain to attack him, 'ooh why the hell did he have to start thinking now! Oh wait he didn't think because whatever goes on in his mind isn't making any sense!' According to Luffy, Zoro had cut down every single 'innocent person' on this island on a rampage. Sure it was kind of the truth but he had a really good reason for that and his captain believed it was because they wouldn't give him any meat. As if he'd cut down someone for not getting him any meat! What was he? A demon?!

Luffy had attacked him and they had a battle while he should have been protecting that princess, if he didn't Nami would have his neck or worse double his debt, he shivered. 'I have to hurry; I am NOT letting that woman use my debt for any other things!'

He saw the princess standing on the other side of the street he was running on, in front of her was a man with afro like hair, black glasses on, a brown coat and... Wait... He had his finger in his nose? The pulled his finger out of his nose and he propelled whatever he had found in his nose towards the princess, she reacted by jumping out of the way before was probably had been a booger exploded 'that's one hell of a booger bomb.' he thought absently.

When the guy once more started picking his nose, Zoro charged to the princess without a second thought. The guy took his stance and fired another booger at her but he jumped in front of her with his sword pushed in to the ground in front of them. The booger hit the katana and was split in half, each halve exploding as they passed by him and the princess.

"Eeww, I cut a booger." He said realizing what he'd done, disgusted for sullying his sword with boogers. The princess seemed to misunderstand shortly and tried to attack but he blocked it and explained quickly that he was here to help. Grabbing her hand, they tried to ran away, but before they even had the chance something landed in front of them in a crash landing, barely missing both them.

When it stood up it turned out to be a woman, "kyahahaha, you're lucky, if you were hit you would have become pancakes, kyahahaha!" She said all the while smiling. It was creepy actually, that smile, it seemed as if her face had frozen up. She was wearing a yellow dress patterned by orange suns and was holding onto a parasol, what she needed it for he wouldn't know as it would probably start raining later and there was no sun in sight.

But he avoided her and continued running on while she was busy explaining why he was so lucky to have escaped her. As soon as he turned the corner though Luffy was standing there, thinking he was going to attack he took on a stance. Luffy though seemed to have other ideas, "ooooh, there you are Zoro, sorry about attacking you!" He said with his usual goofy smile. Zoro relaxed and pointed behind him, "hey Luffy could ya take care of those guys?" Luffy gave him his trademark grin. He always wondered how Luffy could have a grin so big it nearly seemed to leave his face. "Ooh, leave it to me!" His captain yelled as he charged at the two baroque workers.

"Is he gonna be alright, they're two number agents!" The blue haired princess asked worriedly, while Carue was quacking in agreement. "Number agents? I don't know what that is but our captain is strong, no need to worry." She nodded hesitantly as he started running again motioning for her to follow. "But why did you save me?" She asked, he thought for a moment about how to explain. "Well our navigator made a deal with that big curly haired guy, and she blackmailed me into getting you." "Igaram? Did he send you, so he is safe?" as he nodded she let out a relieved sigh and concentrated on the road.

Soon they reached the clearing where Igaram and Nami were waiting, Vivi was telling Nami that they could not afford the kind of money she wanted them to be paid for helping her to reach Alabasta. Zoro himself also thought 1,000,000,000 beri was too much for escorting someone. Nami didn't relent but instead asked her why a princess was all the way here and she started to explain. Apparently her kingdom was being ruined by a civil war started by Baroque Works, and if she can confront the rebel army with the information on the true cause of the war, she can end it. The leader of Baroque Works, according to her, wants to take over Alabasta and turn it into an 'ideal nation' ruled by him,

She told them she couldn't tell them who the leader was though as that would turn the danger to them. Ironically though she ended up telling them in her warning, Crocodile of the Shichibukai.

"Eeeeeh, one of the shichibukai!" Nami screamed, Zoro had to cover his ears to prevent lasting damage, "What is a shichibukai?" He asked, she glared at him but sighed, "the shichibukai are seven pirates who have an alliance with the marines, in exchange for doing things for them they are free to roam the seas and to do their own businesses. But only the strong are chosen for this position as it's also a way to intimidate other pirates not to try anything." He nodded before smirking, "ooh so we're being targeted by such a strong guy! That makes my blood boil." Nami was comically crying, cursing herself for being nakama to such people, but soon she realized something else. "Wait a minute, they don't know we know, Zoro we're leaving. Sorry princess but we're not getting involved." She turned around grabbing Zoro by the ear before stopping abruptly. Zoro pulled his ear free and tried to see to where she was looking. Around the corner of a house, partly sitting behind a wall were two animals, one of them, an otter he thought it was, was drawing something and had an evil glint in his eyes. After a couple of seconds, he seemed done and turned his paper around to show them. On it were very well drawn pictures of all four of them; Nami, Zoro, Luffy and Vivi. "Ooh you're good" Nami said clapping her hands earning her a sweat drop from Vivi and him. Before she realized the dilemma and started crying comically again as the otter left on the back of the vulture.

"Well Nami, it seems they do know." he laughed loudly. She glared at him and turned to Vivi, "well, it seems we're going to be helping, but you better pay us afterwards!" Vivi nodded hesitantly, "I can't promise anything from the country but I have some money on my account, it's not much but it's something if that's enough." Nami took her hand and gave it a shake, "we'll take it." Zoro rolled his eyes muttering, 'yeah, you're taking it alright.' But shut up as Nami glared at him.

"Did you say something Zoro?" She gave him one of those almost sickly sweet smiles but Zoro could feel the tension. "No nothing, I didn't say nothing." She smiled once more, "I thought so, now we have to head back to the ship and leave, Zoro go get Luffy..." But before she could continue they heard a yell "OOOOOOOOII, NAMI, ZORO, I'M BAAAAACK!" And they saw Luffy running towards them.

Nami stepped forward and grabbed him by the ears, "be quiet and follow me we're going back to the ship." He nodded trying to get out of her grip and the rest all moved back at back before returning to the ship... after getting Usopp and Sanji of course.

They all turned back to go to the pub they were at before all this mess started, but Igaram stopped all of them. "Wait, we need a plan." He held one of his hands under his chin in a thinking position. "Princess Vivi I will act as a decoy while you escape with them." She gasped and stormed towards Igaram. "No Igaram, I won't allow you to put yourself in danger for me!" But she couldn't continue her speech as Igaram interrupted her, "VIVI OJOU!" She shut up and looked at Igaram he hardly ever shouted at her, always being calm and peaceful only shouting when it was of utmost importance. "YOU are the hope of our country princess Vivi, we cannot let ANYTHING happen to you! Do you understand. I know you do not want people to be in danger because of you but you must understand you are the hope of millions of people." She nodded weakly as some tears left her face but she made a determined face and turned to give him a hug. Igaram hugged back and they left to finish his plan.

Five minutes later he came back forced in Vivi's spare clothing with a wig on with three other rag dolls who were supposedly Luffy, Nami and Usopp. Luffy was the first to react by bursting out in tears, "HAHAHA, you look amazing. Just like Vivi!" But he was punched on the head by Nami for comparing Igaram to Vivi as they looked nothing alike. Zoro stepped forward and turned around standing with his back towards Igaram and with a smirk on his face. "You think that…" He pointed with his thumb behind him, "will work?" Igaram told them it was the only plan and after a heartfelt goodbye from Vivi, who was feeling miserable without Igaram there with her, he left towards one of the ship is the bay.

They watched him go and turned to leave for their own ship, but only seconds after they started walking. Igaram's ship exploded in the distance, with bits and pieces of the ship and fire from the explosion reaching them. Vivi panicked and tried to run back and jump into the water screaming for Igaram but she couldn't as Zoro and Luffy were holding her back and dragging her back to the ship. "VIVI! It's too late, old man chikuwa made this chance for us we have to go!" Luffy told her in a moment of smarts. She looked at them with tears in her eyes, but slowly she grew determined and nodded. She stood up and soon they were running towards the ship, Luffy taking a short detour to pick up their other two teammates.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"WHAT'S GOING ON, WHY ARE WE SETTING SAIL SO SOON?! Can't we stay another couple of nights or so, their party was a blast and there were so many cute girls!" The blond haired guy with curled eyebrows yelled, the other guy with the long nose nodded enthusiastically and provided his own opinion on the matter, "yeah, we have no idea when we'll get to another island like this so let's take things nice and slow. We are pirates you know!"

Naruto who was sitting on the mast sweat dropped, 'what does being pirates have to do with that?' He snickered a bit but made sure he wasn't heard. 'And they haven't even noticed that their supposed enemy is sitting on their mast'. He heard Zoro ask Nami beneath him on whether they should explain to them that the island was full of bounty hunters. She waved him of and told him it was done showing him the by her beaten up long nose and curly brow. Zoro was speechless as he, Luffy and Vivi each took a step back.

"The mist is lifting, it's almost morning." Nami told the crew, while long nose and curly brow where still lying on the deck half dead. They all relaxed a little but that didn't last long, "be careful not to crash the ship into the rock near the shore and congratulations on your escape." Someone said, Naruto smiled as he saw Robin had joined him on their ship. He smirked slightly and stood up to get a better look at what Robin was planning. 'Oughta be fun, maybe I'll join her in a few minutes'.

"Wha.. WHO'S THAT!" They all yelled, but Robin just calmly looked around, "what a nice ship this is." Vivi looked distraught at seeing Robin, but that was probably because she knew who Robin was. And why shouldn't she? She knew the identity of the boss. "I must tell you I met up with Mister 8 a short while ago." 'Ooh, low blow!' Naruto thought, 'Ro must really loves messing with people, who's the bomb person here? not Robin.' Vivi was beginning to get mad concluding from the remark that it was her who blew up Mister 8.

"WHAT are you doing here miss all Sunday!?" Princess yelled at her, while Luffy was asking where she came from in the background. Everyone gasped, except for Luffy who was still busy in his own little world, before finally realizing she was a part of Baroque Works. "Who is it this time, who's partner is she?" Nami asked. "She is the partner of mister 0, she is the only one allowed to know the identity of the boss, which is why Igaram and I tailed her."

Robin smiled at her, "well technically I let you tail me and I'm not the only one allowed to know the boss's identity." She said, Vivi's eyes went wide as she realized it was probably true. Her tailing had gone a bit too smoothly. Luffy who was standing next to her made another out of place comment, "Ooh, so she is a good guy!" Everyone once more ignored him and proceeded with their conversation. "I Know that and I bet you're the one who told the boss we knew! and What do you mean one of the people who know the boss's identity, there is nobody else who should know!" Vivi said, once more Luffy made his godlike comment, "ooh, so she is a bad guy."

At this point Naruto had a hard time stifling his laughing as everything Luffy did, seemed totally ridiculous to him. He held his hand in front of his mouth and squeezed his stomach trying to stop.

"Well, you of all people should know of Agent Black, technically one of the unluckies but in a higher league." Her eyes widened as she had heard about him before. "What, what is she talking about Vivi?" Nami asked not entirely following the story, "Agent Black is an independent entity that only the boss can order, mostly his job consists of informing the boss of those who discovered his identity hence being part of the unluckies, those animals we saw earlier. But he is also used for missions that are to be kept ultimately secret as nobody besides Mister 0 and Miss All Sunday have ever seen him before. He is a person shrouded in more mystery than Crocodile himself." When she explained this Robin started laughing making Vivi a bit mad, "why are you laughing did I say anything wrong?"

Robin smiled at her and shook her head "No, everything you just said is correct, it's just funny hearing someone call him mysterious." And she chuckled once more. "Why is that so funny?" Vivi asked in tone slightly lower time. Robin smirked causing everyone to flinch, "why don't you ask him that yourself?" Their eyes widened as they heard laughing from above.

"Hahahaha, Ro, hahahaa.. That was hilarious. I .. I can't stop laughing!" Naruto laughed as he jumped next to her from his place on the mast. He took a couple of deep breath and calmed down giving the audience his biggest smile. Everyone one of them had their mouths dropped to their collar bones and Naruto decided to add to the shock. He stood up and did a mock bow, "Nice to meet you, I'm Agent Black." And he once more burst out laughing as he saw them open their mouths even further.

Robin turned to him, "Now, now Black-san that wasn't very nice. We should be polite to our guests." Naruto winked and just pointed a single finger towards Robin. "But Ro~ you had all the fun!" She smiled at him, "That's no excuse and you know it Black-san." He sighed and sat on the ledge of the boat next to Robin.

Slowly the group recovered and Vivi was the first to shake out of it. "That's Mister Black? but you're so young!" She said astonished not noticing a tick mark appearing on his head. Next was Sanji who put up another cigarette, "I don't know what's going on, but aren't rumors usually exaggerated?" Also not noticing the tick mark growing bigger, the last one of the group to shake out of his stupor was Zoro. "What's with that stupid grin?" He said with a smirk, "you know it makes you look kinda stupid." The last one made Naruto snap, he knew those last two were on purpose in some way. Robin looked at her partner and sighed. "You guys just dug your grave." Usopp started laughing apparently gaining his confidence after what Sanji and Zoro said. "Yeah right he looks like he couldn't kill a fly." But before he could say anything more, Naruto disappeared from sight shocking everyone there as he reappeared behind Usopp with a kunai held to his neck. Everyone reacted straight away taking on offensive and defensive positions.

Usopp shook and Naruto could see he was on the verge of fainting so he left it at that disappearing from sight and reappearing once more next to Robin in his original spot. "Does he have a devil fruit?" Nami asked worriedly. "Nope I don't have a devil fruit, I just ran." Everyone looked at him shocked but Zoro was the one to ask, "you just ran?!, we didn't even see you!" Naruto smirked. "well that just shows we're trained differently besides it was only a threat." At this they looked at him blankly, he assumed they didn't see the reason so he explained. "You guys just full out insulted me on three different fronts and didn't even realize it? Either you're extremely ignorant or just a group of very big idiots. First of all, yeah my nickname is Mister Black and just cause I'm relatively young doesn't change that and even that doesn't make any sense! I'm twenty-seven at least a decade older than some of you and lastly. "He looked at Zoro in particular. The guy just seemed like the most serious one in the crew. "My grin is something you'd have no need for as living in the light doesn't require it." He said leaving most of them quite confused, though Zoro seemed to have understood the message and maybe that curly browed guy too as his eyes widened, but that could be from staring at Robin.

Vivi finally couldn't seem to take it any longer and yelled out, "WHAT have you come here for?" She panted heavily and glared at the both of them, though she seemed slightly more fixed on Robin. Ro smiled, put one of her elbows on her knees and her hands under her chin. Her other arm over her legs. Her position just radiated amusement at the situation. "Don't get so worked up." She said calmly, "I am not here on any specific orders. I didn't even come here to fight you. What I came here for is to give some advice to a pitiful group of pirates." Vivi raised an eyebrow, probably wondering what she meant. "You have chosen an unfortunate route, the name of your next island is little garden. Even if I weren't to raise a single hand towards you it's more than likely that you'll never reach Alabasta." She flicked her hand in an upwards motion and Luffy hat flew towards her. The moment she had done so Luffy started to yell like a little kid who had gotten his favorite toy taken away from him. She passed the hat to Naruto who held it in his hands examining it. Surprisingly it looked really well worn. It seemed to have been torn a few times but it had been neatly taken care of by patching it.

"Without ever meeting Crocodile, the curtains of your lives will close." Everyone on the ship was listening closely to what she was saying, well besides Luffy. But from what Naruto had garnered the captain of this crew didn't actually have much of an attention span.

Without listening to the story Robin was telling his crew the captain lurched out to grab his hat.

Naruto jumped out of the way and landed on the mast with a ridiculously high jump. Everyone was shaking out of their stupor and they quickly turned to watched the happenings on the other side of the ship. Luffy was trying to grab the hat from Naruto while acting like some kind of Monkey or child, maybe a combination of both. Maybe the man thought his namesake important?

Naruto dodged a couple of attempts from Luffy to grab his straw-hat before his arms started stretching out way in front of him. 'Hmm, he has a devil fruit, should be fun to mess with.' He smirked slightly while dodging another grab in his direction. Though it was starting to seem more like a punch that a lurch really. He jumped from the mast where he had been and landed on the deck right next to Zoro, who was staring at him.

Naruto smiled wildly enjoying the situation, it had been a long time since he had been in something of a spar. Every fight up until had been something of a life and death battle, you always had to take the situation seriously. But at the moment it wasn't at all like that. He didn't have to worry about many of the usual dangers and the both of them could easily escape. But most of all this crew radiated a sense of peace and enjoyment.

They didn't quite seem like the usual pirates they'd encountered over the years.

Robin was watching this from her set and smiled in a slightly genuine way. 'It's been awhile since I saw Naruto genuinely enjoy himself in front of people besides me.' She watched for a while before turning back to her discussion on little garden.

Robin wasn't the only who had noticed, Zoro who had been standing very close to Naruto before he jumped out of the way to dodge, Luffy had seen the smile. 'That smile was definitely different from the grins he's shown before.' He pondered for a bit on whether he was really just there to spy on them, the guy seemed to enjoy himself well enough. A bit Immature though. He shook his head trying to dismiss the ridiculous speculations, the guy was after all an enemy! The thoughts lingered though.

Naruto who had now taken position on the sheep head at the front of the boat, was immensely enjoying himself in the chase. Luffy hadn't been able to capture him yet but the captain seemed to be having a lot of fun himself. Luffy had somehow come to realize that Naruto wasn't really going to damage his hat and his attacks weren't as dangerous as before. He really had to admit it, despite being a bit of an idiot the teen did have something of a sixth sense.

Nonetheless Luffy wanted his hat so he continued chasing.

He looked out over the ocean while jumping to the other side of the boat, he noticed Robin was keeping the others occupied with her creepy stories about little garden. She managed to do it without actually telling them what's on the island and why it was so dangerous. Naruto shook his head with amusement, he really didn't understand he gift for creeping out others.

Turning his eyes back to the ocean he suddenly had an idea, "oi mugiwara! You've eaten a devil's fruit right?!" Luffy stopped and nodded, "yeah, I ate the gomu gomu no mi, my body is made of rubber." Naruto made an acknowledging sound, everyone had turned their way to see what was going on.

Naruto smirked, "hmm, so you can't swim. Here catch!" Without giving Luffy even the time to think of other methods to catch his hat he threw it out above the ocean. He watched as Luffy jumped after it. Everyone gasped immediately cursing themselves for even thinking Mister Black was the lesser evil of the two. They really shouldn't have let their attention waver. Zoro made a move to jump into the water calling Luffy an idiot but he didn't quite the chance to.

Naruto had moved first.

He disappeared and reappeared almost immediately after. Standing next to where the hat was floating standing on the water. He laughed as he watched Luffy panic slightly in the water. After a while he'd had enough fun and grabbed Luffy by the collar. Within a second they were back on the boat while Luffy had his hat back.

Everyone watched the strange situation with surprised looks. Well what do you expect? Someone did just stand on top of the ocean. Robin was genuinely amused and she didn't hide it when she turned towards Mister Black. Everyone noticed how different her reaction now was compared to what they had seen earlier. It seemed more… real? As if colors had finally been added to a painting.

A moment later she started laughing, "ne Naru I thought I was being mean by telling them scary stories about their next destinations and letting them assume that I assassinated Mister 8 but you take it to a whole new level." She continued to chuckle while everyone else was just shocked. She hadn't been the one that killed Igaram-san? Naruto smirked slightly when he saw their surprise and walked back to where she was. Sitting down on the railing next to her, he put ankle on top of the knee of his other leg. Before pointing a finger towards the entire crew for effect. "Well, what did you expect? That Robin killed Mister eight? Come on, it was an explosion wouldn't you normally think it was the explosion guy who did that?" He said seeing from the corners of his eyes how everyone was mentally berating themselves for being so stupid. "Besides I'm the one who has the skills to actually make it into a joke." He said aggravating Robin a bit while enjoying the moment. Robin glared at him for implying she didn't have any skills; jokes she didn't really care for but her skills were something she was quite proud of.

He grinned at the glare and jumped away from her landing behind Zoro, who had been leaning against the stairs wall. "Ne, how did you do that?" Naruto turned to look at Zoro and tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Do what?" Before sitting down and leaning with his back against the wall. The man raised an eyebrow. "Stand on the water. You said you ate no devil's fruit so how?" Naruto could pretty much see that Zoro was genuinely curious but he really couldn't help himself. The prankster inside of him demanded it be so. So he closed his eyes, put his hands behind his neck and smirked slightly in amusement. "Well I put one foot on the water, then add my other foot next to it. The last step is the most important, you add you weight onto both feet."

He smirked when Zoro developed a tick mark from annoyance. He let the man simper for a while longer before deciding it was enough. "Yea yea, I get what you mean. It's my genetics, my body is stronger and has several capabilities allowing me to do stuff others can't. You could say it's normal for my kind but that implies I'm not human and they are, well mostly." Zoro noticed that he had said 'they' but didn't call him out on it. "So there are others who can do that?" Naruto opened his eyes and sighed, "yeah but not here or anywhere close by though." Zoro's posture slunk slightly and send out a few hints of disappointment. Had he been interested?

"Why aren't they?"

Naruto's eyes darkened a bit as he listened to the question. He turned away and walked to the water where Chance was now drifting next to the boat. Climbing onto the turtle's back he Zoro's stare and question. "Ro, we have to leave now! I still have that report to write and the unluckies will be coming to get it in an hour or two to deliver it to the old prick." Robin chuckled slightly and turned to the pirates and tossed over something to the princess.

Vivi caught it and saw it was an eternal pose with the name Nanimonai Shima on it. "That eternal pose will take you to an island close to Alabasta."

They were deciding on whether to take it but before they could contemplate seriously Luffy grabbed it and crushed it in his hands. Silence reigned across the small caravel's deck before Nami hit him on the head. "What did you that for, you idiot! What if she's a good person." Luffy stared her half glaring before turning his gaze towards Robin. "She doesn't decide the course of this ship!" His glare definitely had an intensity most didn't have.

"Besides she's the partner of that kid who stole my hat. So I don't like her." And there went the moment. The captain's tone had taken an almost petulant edge to it. It no longer sounded serious or intense. It was as if he didn't entirely mean what he had said. Luffy glanced to the guy laying on the turtle slightly before returning his gaze to the woman. Nami noticed this and had to admit it. Despite them being from baroque works they didn't seem so bad.

Robin sighed before standing up and jumping off the ship onto Chance. The old turtle slowly started to paddle away from the caravel. "Well it's your loss." They could just about hear Luffy yell about a giant turtle before they the other boat started to change its course away from them.


	9. Sand Crocodile and a Little Garden

**Chapter 9**

 **Suna wani to chisana niwa**

Having arrived back at the base in Alabasta, Naruto and Robin entered the giant casino, Rain Dinners. The building had been their base ever since Crocodile started to stay in Alabasta on a longer basis.

After the man became this country's 'hero', he decided to publicly live somewhere slightly more open. But since he was the kind of guy who wouldn't even think to live in anything even similar to a normal house. Personally Naruto thought that if the man acted anymore vane than he already did… well let's just say he'd be hard pressed to keep his snide remarks to himself.

So Crocodile had a casino built in the middle of a small city in Alabasta. It was thanks to the casino that the city had flourished and more people had come to see Crocodile as their hero. 'Without even knowing what the guy is planning.' Naruto thought absently.

Naruto and Robin were escorted through the casino to the entrance of one of the VIP rooms and they followed the man through the hallway until they reached a door at the end. The door had a golden name plate with Crocodile written on it. Their escort opened the door after knocking on it politely and announced that 'sir Crocodile', as they called him, had visitors. After the man got a short reply he waved them in and closed the door behind them.

Naruto and Robin stood atop the staircase patiently waiting for a signal to tell them otherwise. Really Naruto did always find it a bit bothersome to have to act subservient. Doing so is pretty much considered a requirement when one participates in something called an alliance. Especially when your party isn't exactly what one would call the more 'powerful' one.

Naruto took a moment to inspect the room. As usual the room was luxuriously decorated and quite spacious as well. Comically enough the walls were made of alabaster stone. They were decorated across with jewels, portraits and chandeliers.

At the heart of the room a very long rectangle table had been placed. A table fit for kings was probably what Crocodile would say. Not that Naruto really cared. Of course the man in particular was sitting at the head of that same table at that very moment.

"Soo, Miss All Sunday and her fox are visiting me, I feel honored!" The man chuckled in a highly sarcastic matter of fact tone. Now usually Naruto would lash out verbally at being compared to an animal and being called something similar to a lap dog! But when they compared him to the right animal without knowing about his 'condition' he didn't mind it as much. It actually made the situation slightly humorous in his eyes. Besides he knew Robin didn't see him as such. As such he acted as was required of him, well mostly.

"Mister Crocodile, I have returned from my mission." He bowed deeply despite his disgust at having to do so, he swallowed his pride though and did anything necessary for them to survive. Crocodile barely acknowledged him as he ordered. "Report!" Naruto nodded, "Mister 12 has been captured by the marines and revealed nothing, I observed as the billions tried to kill him to assure a free spot in the ranks. They didn't succeed, the marines took him out of range for further interrogation." Before he could continue Crocodile took a puff on his cigarette and asked a question. "You did put an end to that right?" It was more of a threat, that he'd better have done so, nonetheless Naruto answered it. "Yes sir."

Crocodile turned to Robin, "Miss All Sunday, it will almost be time for mission Utopia to be put into action so I suggest you get prepared." She nodded and turned to leave before the man continued. "I have another announcement." She turned back to look at the smoking man once more while Naruto continued to look as he'd been doing before. "A week ago I sent a mission for Mister 3 to complete, but he has failed to report and broke one of our rules." 'while on a mission always keep contact within the span of a week or risk being assassinated to keep the chances of secrets being exposed minimized! That idiot!' Naruto thought.

He didn't particularly like Mister 3, what he had seen of the guy was pure arrogance. But he still didn't like the prospect of death all that much either, especially if he was going to be the one delivering it.

"As such he is to be observed and if the situation requests so will be assassinated. I will be having one of the unluckies; Mister Black go. You are to go to Little Garden where he was last seen by one of the other unluckies and observe. You are to inquire him about his mission and take actions appropriate for it. Any other situations are your call." Naruto had to smile slightly at this. The man's orders pretty much left him the freedom to act as he pleased. Though it quickly receded to a frown as he realized something else. "What about Miss All Sunday?"

Crocodile let his loud laugh harmonize through the room until it receded into chuckles. "Yes, I had thought you would be worried about your owner." He said with a belittling edge to his voice. "I'm sure you'd rather be there to guard her but she is needed here from Mission Utopia. I suggest you finish up quickly and return here in time for your part of the plan. Whatever you are going to do makes sure you return here within two weeks. I will allow no contact but if you do not return within that time you know the consequences!" He let it hang for a bit before continuing, "so I don't suggest doing so, now I am busy the both of you are dismissed."

Naruto and Robin left the room quickly and walked out of the casino in small steps, neither of them really pleased at having to be separated again. They had hardly been apart in their years together, with the exceptions of a couple of days during several missions that had been given by some of their previous bosses. But never for quite this long, these particular amounts of time had only appeared since they made an alliance with Crocodile.

"So Ro, I guess we'll be splitting up for a while." Naruto said quite calmly and smiled reassuringly. But he knew she had noticed it wasn't his usual happy smile. "Naruto don't worry, we've both managed to get this far and you have to admit it wasn't only you doing the work." Robin grinned cheekily at her partner in crime. He nodded and sighed before giving he a real smile and giving her a small nudge. What she said was true, Robin had saved him several times from dangerous situations before. She had really learned how to use her powers and if the need arises her charms helped. Though he would never let her go too far with the latter.

"Yeah I know, so I guess I'll be seeing you in a maximum of two weeks." He gave her a short hug and another serious smile. She smiled back at him and nodded, "yeah Naruto, I'll see you soon and then we'll be one step closer to our dream." This time it was his turn to nod before he turned away and left.

After a couple of hours walking Naruto finally reached the edge of Alabasta facing the sea. After making sure nobody was watching him he jumped onto the water leaving for the island called Little Garden.

It was hours of running later that Naruto had finally had enough; he didn't really mind running all that much but when it was for hours on end with no sign of an island? It just started piss him off really. He checked his eternal pose for Little Garden and saw it was still pointing in the direction had been running all this time. He stared in the same direction for a few moments thinking of ways to make this more interesting.

Suddenly he had an idea! Well not too sudden, he had been thinking about it after all. He sat down for a moment and grabbed into his pouch getting out a bandana scarf. Together with the eternal pose he threw it in the air before quickly transforming into his elegant fox half. After having fully changed his form he caught the bandana and pose with his mouth. He wiggled his head through the bandana until it was properly in placed around his neck then he shoved the pose into it.

As a fox he hadn't changed all that much but as his human half grew his fox half also seemed to do so. He was much bigger than a normal fox, he reached about the size of a wolf. Other than his size only one thing had changed over the years and that was his tail or rather tails. He used to only have one like a normal fox but over the years they had increased to three tails. After the first extra one appeared he had freaked out but when the third had come both Robin and him thought it had to do with him growing either older or stronger. The last twenty years had allowed for quite some experience in the field to be gained.

Because his clothes and most of his luggage mysteriously disappear when he is a fox he learned quickly that to avoid losing the stuff he needed when transforming they had to not be touching him while doing so. Since he was on the ocean right now the sky was pretty the only place he could put it, if only temporarily.

The bandana itself was red in color and slightly checkered with a square line that went along the sides of the entire scarf. The line was a lighter shade of red, in the same shade as the line was a small nine-tailed fox engraved on the corner. The nine-tailed fox was positioned exactly so it was seen on the corner of the bandana as Naruto wore it slightly to the side of his neck.

'This should make my journey a bit more interesting!' He thought, the world always seemed more interesting to watch when he saw it through a fox's eyes. His senses were enhanced and people always seemed to think less of a fox. It made observations and such easier and quite a bit funnier to do.

And so he continued his journey onwards to little garden.

After running for another couple of hours, much to his displeasure, he finally reached an island. He checked the eternal pose and saw it was pointing towards the island. 'I guess that's finally Little Garden then!' He ran to the beach and jumped onto the sand. Without a care in the world he lay down and stretched out in the sun. There was hardly a reason not to enjoy the moment after all. He stretched his paws in front of him, laying there for a moment enjoying the sun and the smell of the forest.

After a couple of minutes enjoying his surroundings he heard a loud sound in the distance. Immediately he stood up and took an alert position, but soon realized the sound came from faraway. 'What kind of thing makes that kind of a sound?!' He though slightly bewildered though mostly excited.

He ran towards the forest and in one jump reached a high tree branch, he jumped from tree branch to tree branch picking up in speed as he moved. He was making sure he didn't miss anything on the way. "Gegyagyagyagya!" He heard in the distance and he froze up, his mind blanked for a moment and he slipped of the tree branch he'd landed on. Landing quite harshly on the ground he actually ignored the entire accident and stood up immediately.

That laugh sounded oddly familiar to a certain giants laugh!

He ran in between the trees no longer paying any attention to anything else around him, he sped through them and came to a clearing in less than a couple of seconds. He stopped at the clearing because in front of him was a giant sitting there eating a... A small piece of meat? 'Why the hell is Luffy eating the giant chunk of meat while the giant is eating a piece of meat the size of his fingertip?!' Naruto thought incredulously as he watched Luffy sitting next to the giant. 'Oh yeah. They'd chosen the route to Little Garden, I'd forgotten that little fact.' He watched Vivi and Luffy sit next to the giant.

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA, your pirate lunchbox is also very good, though a bit small!" The giant laughed, 'so that's why their portions are switched.' Naruto continued watching the giant and Luffy talking and pretty much started rolling around in laughter when Luffy told the giant that if he hadn't liked the lunchbox he would have kicked his ass. Seriously who'd threaten a giant about meat!

Of course this didn't go unnoticed as Vivi turned around and saw him but he was too busy laughing to notice. After a couple of minutes of listening to the two telling each other ridiculous things Naruto finally calmed down but it was a bit late when he felt himself being pulled into an embrace.

"Aaah, how cute! But what's a fox doing here, I don't think there were any in the prehistoric." Although Naruto didn't show it on the outside he was panicking on the inside, touch was something he had associated with danger over the years. Really only Robin ever touched him and that wasn't usually more than a hug on occasions. "And look he has three tails!" at that Naruto froze, he had long learned that anyone who knew what a fox with more tails than one meant was trouble. Naruto was a nine-tailed fox, he'd learned that from jiji in his old village after he'd told him who his mother was, in the beginning he didn't really know the difference. He only had one tail so was the difference? But after the tails started to increase he realized he was also getting stronger. He was also pretty sure that his fox side had something to do with the poneglyphs so he'd learned over the years that anyone who knew what kind of fox he was spelled trouble.

The fact that the fox froze hadn't gone unnoticed by Vivi. Before she could say anything else though Naruto disappeared in smoke and he appeared a couple of meter away from her in a defensive position. In his place was wooden log.

Naruto had learned several jutsu's over the years, most of them were from memory or just based on ideas he'd had. He'd also remembered a lot from the books professor clover had shown him and he made it a point to learn those too.

Vivi stood up calmly and looked him in the eye, she made a slight move forward but stopped as she saw that he growled a bit. Instead of moving closer she got into a squat position and put her hand in front of her showing she meant no harm. Naruto watched for a bit as she sat there patiently, after a while he figured she meant no harm. She had looked surprised about his multiple tails. He slowly moved closer to her hand until he ended up nuzzling it slightly with his nose. She let out a small squeal and slowly started petting him, soon he was enjoying it and sat down next to her as she was petting his head and scratching his ears.

He shouldn't really be letting he pet him though. He did have a job to do after all. It shouldn't matter to him that her scratching under his ears just felt exquisite.

As Vivi was scratching him under the ears he felt her touch his bandana and she stopped. He looked up and saw she was curious about the bandana, he opened his mouth to explain but realized he was still a fox and couldn't talk. He stood up and motioned to Vivi that he wasn't going to go, she seemed surprised. He figured it was probably that a fox was communicating with her. He walked around the clearing a bit until he saw a patch of sand, he chirped to her and motioned with his head for her to come. She walked over and he sat down once more, she followed his lead though curious as to why.

He moved one of his tails in front of him and began to draw words on the sand, she seemed to understand what he was trying to do but was to perplexed a fox could write to react as he continued writing. "The scarf was a present from a friend long ago." Was the message he'd left in the sand. She nodded, "why did you tell me this?" He sweat dropped slightly and turned to the sand moving his tails, "because you looked curious about it." She blushed a bit about being caught in the act.

"Thanks, I was indeed curious. Why don't you join us for lunch? I'm sure Luffy-san and Dorry-san won't mind." He looked at her surprised, what kind of person would invite a fox to lunch? "I'm a fox?!" He wrote in the sand. She smiled at the comment. "Who cares? Dorry-san is a giant! And I would like to pet you more…" She said adding the last part softly, he still heard it though. He contemplated her point for a while before nodded not minding the last bit, staying by their side might also make it easier for him to move around the island. He was in no way being persuaded by the prospect of being scratched under his ears. Nope, he was an adult and knew when to act like one…

Vivi stood and walked towards Luffy and Dorry, she shortly motioned for him to followed and continued walking. He sighed for a bit and also stood up, why ignore an offer when it gets you a free lunch?

"Hey Vivi, where were y..., what's with that fox. Vivi we already have meat you know?" Naruto sweat-dropped and took a couple of steps back, he'd rather not end up as the lunch not that they could catch him but still...

"Luffy-san! He is not for you to eat! He is..." She paused for a bit before turning to him. "What is your name?" He chuckled a bit and moved his tail to write before he paused, should he give them his real name? Well It didn't really matter, nobody besides Robin knew the difference between his code names and his real name. He wrote down his real name. "My name is Naruto."

"That's quite a strange name for a fox." He glared at her for a bit before relenting and once more moving his tails. "Yeah, but it means maelstrom and not fishcake!" And at that she started laughing.

"That's soooooo cooooooooool!" He heard as he was pounded into a hug by Luffy, he kept his instincts to run at bay and tried to shake him off... In vain. "You can write!" He yelled in Naruto's ears, he was held for a couple of seconds as Luffy continued to spout off rubbish, finally Naruto had enough and performed a substitution, leaving a piece of wood in his place. He reappeared a couple of meters away and walked to stand by Vivi, the one he deemed to be the safer of the two. He thought he saw recognition in the eyes of the giant but it disappeared as soon as it had appeared so he didn't know for sure.

The sparkle in Luffy's eyes had increased and he started to chase Naruto around telling him how awesome that trick was and asking him to explain, without even giving him the time to actually do so. He could see a tick mark grow on Vivi's head and as soon as it had started the quarrel died and she made them both sit down again with a lump on their heads. 'Why me too?' He thought.

They started eating and Naruto had gotten a bit of meat from Vivi who in turn had gotten it from Luffy. While they were eating she suddenly asked a question. "Dorry-san why are you living alone on this island?" The giant looked up and started laughing again.

"Well, actually I'm not living alone. There is another giant on this island, but you see we come from a village called Elbaf." At this Naruto raised his eyebrows, it was the village Saul had talked about. "At our village we have a certain law. If a quarrel breaks out and we cannot settle it ourselves, then we beseech our god Elbaf for his judgement. Elbaf is just and bestows protection on those who are right. He'll ensure the survival of the righteous." He said.

Naruto could see where this was heading. 'No wonder Saul didn't want to be compared to those from Elbaf, he who seeks peace and they who seek battle and fight for pride.' He thought before he turned his attention back to the giant.

"So this island has been the battle ground between us to settle our argument but ...it's been a hundred years and we can't seem to settle it." Dorry continued laughing.

"You've been living for a hundred years?!" Luffy screamed and Naruto had to shield his ears.

"We live three times longer than your puny one." Dorry said while snickering at the outburst. That was when Vivi decided to cut in.

"But even if you live longer, how could you want to continue fighting that long, what kind of reason is there?" She said distraught and not understanding. But before the giant could continue or explain the volcano on the island exploded and he stood up.

"Looks like it's time. I'm not sure when we decided it, but we decided that whenever the volcano exploded we would fight." He got ready to leave and fight but Vivi shouted once more in a bit of a panic.

"What... You two can't possibly hate each other so much that you would want to continue trying to kill each other for a hundred years! Just what exactly was the caus.." But before she could continue Naruto pulled on her ponytail with one of his tails. She glared at him but saw the serious expression, if she could even tell that on a fox, and backed off anyway.

Luffy nodded to Naruto but kept watching the giant as he walked towards his battle. "It's not about that anymore," Vivi wanted to ask what he meant but Dorry cut in. "It's about pride now." He picked up his sword and shield and ran towards the other giant who was also taking position and charging. "and we forgot the reason AGES AGO." He yelled as they clashed. Shockwaves were sent their way from the force of their collision.

Luffy and Vivi where staring at the giants fighting before Luffy fell over backwards onto the ground muttering. "They're huge" While Naruto snickered at his actions.

They continued watching as the giants fought. Naruto noticed that they were constantly aiming for each other's vital areas. 'If even one of those hits hit they're down for the count'.

Dorry tried to hit the other giant with the tip of his sword as he swung it down at him, but he jumped up and the sword missed. The other giant came down with axe and hit Dorry on the head, who had had been left defenseless with his sword in the ground, it didn't have much of an effect though as he was wearing a helmet. Both of them kept exchanging hits barely missing each other until finally the both of them swung their shields in a last attempt and were both hit in the face. They collapsed and everybody who was watching held their breath wanting to know what would happen.

Suddenly they started laughing, "GABABABA, Hey Dorry I got some good rum from guests!" The other giant said. "Excellent! I haven't had rum for so long, pour me some will ya! GEGYAYAYAHA!" Nearly everyone sweat dropped at the display of affection the two had after having tried to kill each other. After the other giant gave Dorry a couple of barrels of rum they both turned around and went back to their respective places on the island.

Naruto was laying on the ground while barely listening to the pirates and the giants talking again, he heard something about the log pose taking up a year to get used to the island's field but he wasn't interested. Building up a bit of his chakra to the surface of his skin, he made it as dense as he could and shot it out onto the island. Over the years he had gotten much better at chakra control, but who wouldn't when it's nearly one of the only things he could practice, the books he had read on Ohara where on different ways of chakra control and chakra manipulation. But because of his huge chakra reserves he couldn't try the latter until a couple of years ago after a long time of practice on chakra control. He'd used his imagination for several other techniques and jutsu like the substitution but it could only get him so far. He'd managed to figure out quite a lot of them though and had different ways to make up for what he couldn't do just yet.

He felt a lot of presences on the island so he had thinned out his chakra to respond to only those who had more chakra than the amount they need to live off. While outside of the elemental nations it's rare to meet anyone who has enough chakra to even stand on water, a lot of pirates and marines have a bit more than the average civilian. Still it would be damn right impossible for most of them to become ninja without starting very early in life.

He felt the other giant with two other companions, it looked like they were talking so they were probably the guests he was talking about in their fight. There were two other presences walking about the island, he could feel they were Zoro and the curly browed guy, it looked like they were each fighting against something but he couldn't really tell against what. The next presence was someone he recognized. 'What are Mister 5 and Miss Valentine doing on this island?' He felt them walking on the other side of the island, they had probably just arrived. The last presence was that of Mister 3 and his partner Miss Golden Week.

'Bingo' He thought but before he could do anything something exploded, he reacted instantly and took a position ready to fight if needed. Quickly he saw they weren't being attacked, the barrel of rum the giant had been drinking had exploded.

"Dorry-san!" "Mr. giant" Luffy and Vivi yelled. Carue was running circles around them in panic. Naruto had a bad feeling about this so he went to stand next to Vivi.

"WHAT HAPPENED, why did the rum explode! Wasn't this rum from our ship." Luffy said slightly panicked while he was standing on the giant for some reason. "It exploded from inside his stomach, do you think that the other giant ..." But before she could finish her sentence Luffy snapped though not entirely at her. "Do you think two warriors who have been fighting for a hundred years would stoop that low?!" Vivi nodded having to agree with that. "Then who could have..." She trailed of as the giant behind them stood up. He looked down at them with a dark look on his face.

"It's you little runts." He coughed a little, "Broggy is a proud warrior of Elbaf and there's nobody but you who could have done it." He had another coughing fit, blood poured out of his mouth with this one. He grabbed his weapon and glared at the Strawhat captain.

Vivi was trying to run away and tried to tell Luffy to do the same but before she could Naruto bit her shoe to keep her from moving. Vivi looked down and saw him stopping her. "Naruto-san?! What are you doing we have to get away from here!" Naruto let go and shook his head and with one of his tails pointed to Luffy. Vivi looked and saw Luffy warming up his limps for a fight. "Luffy-san you can't possibly think of fighting a giant. That's reckless! The size difference is too big!"

Luffy put down his hat and passed it to Vivi. "Hold on to that for me!" Before turning back to the giant and stretching his knuckles, "Sorry ossan, but I'm going to have to shut you up for a bit!"

"Listen to me Dorry-san, we know nothing of that explosive rum. But you should stop fighting your wounds are going to get worse!" Vivi yelled, trying to reason the giant into stopping. But the words fell on deaf ears and both Luffy and the giant continued watching each other for an opening. Naruto took position to help temporarily take out the giant if needed. It was something he could do for Vivi. As a form of pay back for scratching his ears and sharing her lunch. Naruto liked to think that he returned every debt he owed as long as he could afford to do so. The only exception being if it involved Robin's safety.

Dorry was the first to attack, he swung down his sword with so much strength the air that parted pushed away everything around them. Luffy managed to dodge it just barely, even with the wind helping him. The ground where the sword ended up was fissured and ground flew around the clearing from just the force of the swing. The giant's body couldn't handle the pressure and he started to cough up more blood, Luffy took this chance and charged onto the sword running up towards the giant.

Naruto saw where this was heading and he started powering up a smaller version of his bijuu-dama, which was a small sphere of chakra so tightly compressed it had a very explosive effect. It was something he thought of when Robin had given him his bandana scarf. He'd eventually figured out how to do it from the chakra manipulation but somehow it was something he seemed to know almost instinctively so it didn't take him long to learn. The attack just seemed to come naturally, even if he had only thought of it in recent years.

All three of his tails moved in front of his snout with the tips pointed at each other forming a triangle without actually touching. In between the tails a small black and red ball of energy started to form, slowly getting bigger. Naruto was making sure to keep the power minimal as the power of his bijuu-dama could be very dangerous.

Vivi was watching the giant and Luffy fight but soon noticed something next to her and she saw the fox powering up some kind of move. Perplexed by seeing the fox do another thing that shouldn't be possible for a fox, she hadn't thought of asking what he was actually doing. 'I really have to get used to the grand line.' She thought absently while watching both sides.

Luffy was still running up in the sword getting ready to punch the giant in the face, but the giant saw what he was trying to do and raised the other hand with the shield getting ready to pound Luffy before he could hit him. Luffy tried to be quick and hit him anyway but he was a bit too slow and the shield was already swung towards his face.

Getting ready to be hit by the shield Luffy prepared himself but before anything happened a big blast of black energy shot past his head hitting the shield. It exploded and pushed it out of the way. The giant was left defenseless by this attack and Luffy took the chance hitting the giant in the face with his gomu gomu no pistol attack.

The giant was on his way falling but managed to keep standing shocking everyone there slightly. "He is a person who has gained powers of the evil fruit, I underestimated you." Dorry said muttering the first part mostly to himself before coughing up blood as he collapsed.

Luffy was panting a lot and sat down trying to gather his breath. "Luffy-san are you alright?" Vivi said as she moved closer to Luffy with Naruto behind her.

"How is the giant?" He asked still sitting on the ground. "He is alright; I don't think he would have calmed down unless you did that." Luffy absently nodded.

"I am very upset about this." The captain suddenly said out of nowhere, Naruto nodded slightly getting what he meant. "As Mr. Giant said the other giant can't have made the rum explode and I know my friends wouldn't do that, there must be someone else on this island!" Luffy said frowning. He seemed to think about something for a bit.

Though as soon as he went quiet he realized something else and turned back to his goofy self. "Ne ne Vivi, what was that cool beam just now!" He said already on his feet bouncing up and down with sparkles in his eyes. Both Vivi and Naruto sweat dropped at the change of mood.

"Well actually I don't know Luffy-san." She said as she turned to Naruto. "Would you mind telling us Naruto-kun?" He blinked at the honorifics but nodded.

He moved to a piece of sand before he stopped, he had a great idea. He retreated back to where he was standing and closed his eyes to concentrate. "Naruto-kun don't you need that sand to write?" Vivi asked confused as to what he was doing.

Naruto opened his eyes, they were normally blue colored but when he was a fox they turned an amazing fire like red, which were almost always glowing slightly. On one of his tails a small fire started to burn and he moved it in various ways slowly leaving a pattern in the places he passed. Seconds after characters and words started to appear, after he was done he kept his chakra concentrated to make sure it didn't disappear. He moved next to Vivi to look at his work and nodded satisfied.

"I am a fox yokai meaning I have certain powers. That beam like attack was just some of my energy concentrated together to shoot as a projectile." The message said. Vivi looked at him slightly shocked before noticing something. "By the way you wrote it, it's like... that wasn't anything worth noticing."

Naruto nodded and moved in front of the both of them, he once more wrote in the air using one of his tails. Huh maybe he'll be able to use this method without moving his tails? "A bit, I have a lot of energy so this wasn't all that big and other than that I have some other moves I made up. I won't tell though!" He put his snout childishly into the air with an arrogant grin to make the last bit slightly more final.

Before Vivi could say anything else about that Luffy decided to enter the conversation... Yelling. "Cooooooooool, a beam, you've got a beam! Do you want to join my crew?" He said out of nowhere. Naruto who was taken of guard was once more forced into a hug. Not able to get his bearings he did what he always did and substituted himself for a log. Luffy who was suddenly hugging a log was even more impressed and kept chasing him yelling at him to become his nakama.

Naruto suddenly felt as if he had become prey and was surprised at the feeling, he ran to Vivi and hid behind her. 'Shit, I'm acting like a small child who's scared of something, but that captain is really weird.' He continued to keep up his guard as he watched Luffy making his way towards him with his hands in the air making creepy movements.

"Luffy-san I think you have to calm down, because you're scaring him." Luffy stopped for a bit before continuing to yell at him to join his crew, he stopped attacking him though. 'He's not scaring me!' Naruto thought indignantly but as the sparkles increased in Luffy's eyes he started to doubt it. 'okay maybe a little' he thought with a sweat drop.

He moved out of the spot behind Vivi and just decided to ignore him. But before Luffy could take the chance to hug the fox again the volcano behind them exploded once more and seconds after that the giant tried to get up to fight. They all saw what this meant and turned back to the giant who was now trying to pick himself up.

"Dorry-san please stop, you're hurt. You should take a rest otherwise you'll die!" Vivi yelled at the giant who was trying to stand up.

"I am the warrior Dorry, at least…" He coughed up even more blood before continuing. "I have to fight in the honor of Elbaf." He said as the blood streamed down his mouth.

Luffy tried to stop the giant once more but before he could even move Dorry had put a giant carcass of some kind of dinosaur on top of him making sure he couldn't move. Naruto who no longer had any intention of stopping the giant sat down having paid back his debt, it was a fight for pride and not something he would interfere in. While Vivi was watching with slight panic in her eyes.

The giant stood with his sword pointed down at Luffy. "I can't stop, we have been fighting for a hundred years and are still fighting. If we begin it, we can't escape from it or it will mean we stop being warriors. If that happened, I will no longer be myself."

"If the warrior god of Elbaf had decided for it to be this way then let it be." The giant continued.

But Luffy wasn't listening to what the giant was saying. "BUT IT ISN'T FAIR! someone else was involved in this fight!" But the giant kept walking towards the battle.

"Shut up, you who were born ten or twenty years ago, you know nothing of the highest honor of Elbaf!" that was when Luffy snapped. "SO IF YOUR GOD TOLD YOU TO DIE, YOU WOULD?" But his yelling fell on deaf ears.

Naruto turned away from the scene, he wrote something next to Vivi to let her know where he went. She was really nice and Naruto didn't really fancy the thought of her dying later, hell he didn't like the thought of any of those pirates dying later. They were all very interesting and compared to baroque works they were actually really decent people. This was still his job though for now and Robin would always be his priority. He left the clearing and prepared himself to complete his mission.


	10. 3's plan and a new beginning

Wow, the story has actually reached a hundred followers… Didn't quite expect for that to happen. Well anyway thanks everyone for reading this and a special thank you to the people who have left reviews. They were all very pleasant to read, especially some of the theories.

 **Chapter 10**

 **San no keikaku to tsugi no tabi no hajimari**

Naruto had to get to Mister 3 before the man interrupted the fight between the giants. Naruto knew the way in which Mister 3 operated his plans. He probably wouldn't interfere with anything until it was exactly the right time. Which in this case was when the giants had fought or were tired. If he was quick then he could probably still find the man before he tried anything.

He had his mission and he would finish it.

Naruto ran into the forest and transformed back into his human form, sending out a pulse of chakra he figured out the location of Mister 3 and moved towards that direction. He reached the place quickly because of his speed and stopped in front of a small, square house. It was white in color. 'Probably made of Mister 3's doru doru no mi power.' Naruto mused absently while observing the odd contraption. He walked over to the window and rested his elbows on it looking into the house.

"Between fights, if you're not concentrating, you will lose. Right now their concentration is running out. All because of the bomb of an invisible enemy." He heard Mister 3 say. Remembering the giants and their Naruto could actually feel a bit of anger on their behalf. 'They were the ones who put the bomb there, Mister 3 really is a sneaky little rat.' Almost immediately he suppressed the emotion and took on a neutral facade. He was on the same side as them and had done similar things throughout the years. They were hardly ever his own decisions though. He preferred a quick end if he had to, not prolonging any pain, that was just torture. Something he wasn't very fond of.

Naruto continued to listen as Mister 3 explained his plans to Mister 5, Miss Valentine and Miss Golden Week. "Our first target is the green giant Dorry, I knew the bomb wouldn't kill him. However, it should have some effect on him from inside his body. There won't be any trouble taking care of him. Besides this is a good time, they're just starting to fight! They are just silly fighters after all. As long as we have a non-face-to-face battle with them, everything should be fine." Naruto decided that this was a good moment to interrupt and he entered the little house through the window quietly, though nobody actually saw him enter.

"And Mister 3 what about your non-face-to-face contact with the boss?" Everyone turned to him shocked about him standing there. As soon as they got out of their stupor they took offensive positions ready to attack. Naruto gave them a huge grin before turning to Mister 3 a bit more seriously. "My code name is Mister Black, Mister 3 you have failed to keep contact with the boss and as such I am to take appropriate measures of which I was left to decide on, do you have anything to say?"

Naruto watched as the color paled out of all their faces, though surprisingly Mister 5 was the first to react. "Mister black, as in one of the unluckies directly serving under the boss, the one nobody has seen before?" The man seemed mostly shocked but there was an undercurrent of fear visible. Naruto nodded slightly and gave Mister 3 a meaningful stare telling him to hurry up.

Mister 3 shook his head to shake away the shock and turned to explain. "Before I will tell you why, may I inquire the reason and if there is any chance of my survival." He asked with a sliver of growing of hope in his voice. Naruto nodded, "do you mean the reason as to why I was left to decide?" Getting a nod in confirmation from Mister 3. "Well, it won't matter too much now if I tell you, but soon you will all be gathered. Boss's plan will finally be put into action and he is busy, as such I was left to do the menial work. As for whether you'll survive depends on you."

Mister 3 sighed slightly and nodded, "okay." He sighed composing himself, "Miss Golden Week and I were enjoying our time on Holiday Island because I had received no orders from the boss. I told Miss Golden Week and she told me almost immediately she had received an order. When I asked her why she didn't tell me, she told me I never asked!" Everyone in the room sweat dropped except for Naruto. He kept his professional attitude and motioned for the man to continue his story. He was sweat dropping on the inside though.

"I read the mission and it said to get rid of those who discovered his identity." He took out the drawings, showing Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Vivi. "We immediately headed to Little Garden hoping to make up for the lost time, or at least I was." He said glaring at Miss Golden Week who was now nodding away into a deep sleep. "But anyway, we arrived here and I saw that the two giants were here fighting it out and that they had quite the bounties on their heads. Taking them on together with the targets would be quite difficult so I started to plan, I called Mister 5 and Miss Valentine for help. In all of this chaos I had forgotten to contact the boss. But I assure you when I finish this I will personally apologize to the boss, of course not face-to-face though, and present him the money the giants will get us."

Naruto didn't exactly want to acknowledge the idea considering he quite liked the giant, but deciding from a neutral perspective as a Baroque Works agent it seemed like the most logical choice to let him try. "Ok, I will allow you this one chance. But screw this up I will eliminate you and inform the boss of the situation here." He said allowing for some killing intent to leak into his voice.

Mister 3 and everyone else in this room nodded, the color draining out of their faces, looking quite scared. "This is your last chance."

Naruto left the room and ran into the forest leaving them shocked in the little wax house. Once he was in the forest he turned back into a fox. 'I'm going to have to be here until he finishes or fails his mission so why not enjoy it?' he thought with a smug smile before moving at a more leisurely pace through the forest. His route? Back to the Strawhat captain and the princess. Probably the most interesting place on the island.

He took his time strolling through the forest avoiding any dinosaur or animal that would want to attack him. He was captivated by the dinosaurs though; he had heard Robin speak of them before but he hadn't thought they would be quite this big. According to his memory, he had seen a couple of Apatosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, though he had avoided the last one. It would probably be an interesting encounter but he didn't fancy fighting such colossal animal.

After ten minutes of strolling through the forest he finally reached the clearing again only to find Luffy under a carcass, half burned. The long nosed guy he had seen when he was with Robin on their boat was on the floor, Naruto thought the guy's name was apod, or Usopp or something. The last rather obvious thing he noticed was the giant spot-billed duck unconscious on the floor. Vivi and giants were nowhere in sight.

He trotted towards them but walked past most of them heading straight for the Strawhat that lay a couple of meters away from Luffy. He picked the hat up with his mouth and moved back to the Strawhat captain and put the hat on top of his head. He had remembered how much the hat had meant to the guy and he could understand the sentimental worth. He himself felt the same for the bandana he received from Robin. He was about to leave when Luffy grabbed onto one of his tails, Naruto froze entirely and wondered why he was being grabbed, hugged and stroked so much today. Also why he kept letting his guard down, essentially allowing them to.

He turned around to Luffy who was waking up while holding his tails, suddenly Luffy squeezed hard on his tail and he let out a pathetic yelp. That was when he had enough and scratched Luffy in the face waking him up.

"Ooh fox, what did you do that for?" Naruto pointed with his snout towards the captain's hands and Luffy followed the motion. "Ooh, hehe sorry." He chuckled while letting go of his tail.

Naruto concentrated on his chakra as he wasn't yet used to using it in that particular way and wrote in the air using with the fiery letters. "What happened?" Luffy looked around him and saw Usopp and Carue lying there. Naruto could see him get mad but hadn't quite expected him to do what he did next.

Luffy forced the giant carcass of his back with all his might and stood up. "Giant ossan, went to fight anyway and lost even though it was unfair. After then the bomb guy came and beat us all up taking Vivi with him." He walked to Usopp and pulled him out of the ground by the nose and then towards Carue to ask him if he wanted to help Vivi. The spot billed duck nodded vigorously and stood up once more.

Naruto watched as each of them stood up before they all started to run into the forest yelling out something about payback. 'Really though, I doubt this will actually work...' Naruto chirped loudly and pulled the attention towards himself before they all disappeared off into the forest. After they all stopped moving to look his way, Naruto sighed a bit and walked to Luffy. Who was looking towards him curiously. "What is it fox?"

Naruto lit up one of his tails while Usopp was watching with a mixture of surprise and fright. 'seriously he's scared of a fox? Never seen that before... I guess I am somewhat bigger than a normal fox.' Naruto thought as he continued to write. "Do you even know where they are?" At that everyone looked at Luffy who started to laugh sheepishly. " NOPE!" He exclaimed loudly causing everyone to groan at his stupidity.

"So Luffy, you were just planning to run around until we found them?!" The long nosed guy asked. "Yep!" Everyone sighed and Naruto barked once more to get the attention, this time it took less than a few seconds for the sentence to appear. "Why don't you look at where the giant collapsed maybe they're all there or the giant might know where the rest are." And before he could say or write anything else they were already running… again.

Naruto laughed quietly at the way they acted and started to follow them. He mostly kept to the shadows though, his job wasn't to help them. If he wanted to he could, nobody knew he was Mister Black at the moment. But if he did help them he would have to do it discreetly otherwise he would end up as a target and that might be a bit annoying, one half of him would be a target of the same organization his other half worked for.

After running at their pace for ten minutes he finally reached the clearing where the giant was supposed to be, Naruto jumped into a tree to witness and plan what he was going to do. Also of course to watch with amusement as all three of the others charged into the clearing as if they owned the place. He was lucky he was a fox at the moment otherwise he'd have trouble stifling his own laughter.

Luffy, the long nosed guy and Carue all ran into the clearing, but they had built up such a momentum they ran past the enemy as they were watching. Each and every one of them crashed into the forest as the enemy was wondering what it was exactly that ran past them in the first place. "Let's take care of them, Usopp. "Duck!" Luffy yelled as they all stood up from their crash.

"Luffy, Usopp!" "Carue!" Nami and Vivi yelled happily at them while Zoro stared indifferently. "Broggy sensei, I will take revenge for you!" Usopp yelled while the giant was strapped to the ground. "Usopp?" The giant said surprised.

Naruto looked at the two giants, one of them was unconscious on the ground, by the flesh wound on his chest it was obvious he had lost against his rival. The other giant, Broggy, though wasn't celebrating, he was tied to the ground with wax around his wrists and ankles. Four wax knives cut deep into his hands and feet keeping him from struggling too much. 'Horrible' Naruto thought, he didn't like cowardly methods like these and unless it was to protect someone he would never resort to them. Maybe even then he wouldn't, he probably just leave with Robin. Despite her sense of humor, she wasn't much of a fan to actual gore and torture.

Nami was telling Luffy and the rest to beat up those guys and Luffy agreed. But before he could even start to fight something else caught his eye. To the rubber captain this little detail seemed to be more important than anything else. "Whoa, look at his hair it looks really stupid!" he yelled pointing at Mister 3's hairdo. While Luffy's priorities might not be entirely in the right order he did have a point. The man's hair was literally tied up in the form of a three.

Mister 3 grew a tick mark on his forehead, "shut up." He muttered but Luffy just continued on. "And that three it's on fire!" "Shut up!" Mister 3 yelled as Luffy continued to make fun of his hairdo.

"Luffy can you break this thing for us first before we become candle dolls?!" Nami yelled while pointing at the giant sculpture above them. They were all stuck or rather their feet were stuck on a wax cake with a giant pumpkin spinning above them, the pumpkin had candle like things which were on fire causing little bits of wax to fall down to the cake where they were held.

"Eh, are you guys in trouble?" Luffy asked suddenly hearing Nami. Zoro looked at Luffy and shrugged, "no, not really." But the blood streaming down his ankles was saying something entirely different.

Naruto jumped to another tree without anyone noticing to get a better look at the entire clearing.

"Zoro, there's a lot of blood coming from your legs you know." Nami said almost casually hardly worrying for some unfathomable reason.

Zoro just shrugged, "yeah, I cut half my ankles just now before Luffy arrived." He answered just as casually. "Idiot, why would you cut you cut your own legs? Are you an idiot. Anyway do something about them it's almost painful to look at!" Nami and Zoro started to bicker more about how painful it looked and that he should do something about it while Vivi was looking at them surprised. Maybe with a bit of disbelief added to it. "How come you're not worried at all?!" She asked them. They turned their heads to her, Zoro just shrugged and Nami smiled slightly. "Don't worry, even though Luffy is like that, when something needs to get done he will get it done." Vivi was even more surprised at the amount of trust they showed and smiled slightly.

Naruto couldn't quite suppress a smile as well; these guys really didn't act like the stereotype pirates at all. They were more like adventurers although adventurers nowadays are also mostly pirates. The government almost always declared them as such. 'I bet Robin would really like these guys.' He thought for a moment, he didn't entertain the thought for long though. They had met people similar to them before and you could never really tell when you would be betrayed. Naruto would probably never stop trusting people but he wouldn't risk Robin's safety. Experience had told them that their bounties and reputation were worth a lot of trouble that most just weren't willing to go through.

He turned his attention back to the fight and heard Zoro say something. "Anyway Luffy can you destroy that pole? I'll take care of the rest." He smirked broadly as Luffy grinned just as widely, "Sure!" He got into a fighting stance.

"Luffy we'll help you from behind, don't worry!" Usopp yelled in a confident sounding manner from near the edge of the forest.

'More like you're too scared to fight' Naruto thought as he watched the duck and Usopp hide behind a tree with buckling knees. Luffy was slightly distracted and turned around to see who was talking to him. But Mister 3 made used of that distraction.

"Candle lock!" He yelled as he threw wax at Luffy catching his legs into a block of wax keeping his legs together.

"He's caught!" "Luffy-san" Usopp and Vivi yelled watching Luffy as he lay on his back. Luffy himself though was knocking the wax to see how hard it was, "hmm, what's this my legs look like a hammer," and you could practically see his face light up with an idea.

"You really suck, next will be your arms." Mister 3 yelled smiling. He didn't notice Luffy realize something and yelled, "candle lock!" But Luffy managed to dodge the attack and grabbed one of the daggers holding the giants hand to the ground. He wrapped his arms around the handle of the dagger several times. After he was twisted around the hilt thoroughly his rubber tendencies kicked back in and he was sent back the opposite way he came in. Picking up speed as he twisted back around the hilt he moved his legs to conveniently look similar to a hammer and hit the pole holding the pumpkin in the air.

While the idea was sound the captain hadn't quite anticipated what would happen after he'd kicked away the support holding up the entire pumpkin.

The hammer on his legs was destroyed as the support fell away from underneath the entire structure and the pumpkin fell down onto the cake like structure. Only to continue spinning as it let off more small pieces of wax that floated down.

Luffy looked towards the cake and saw all of them still there, stuck. "Eeeh that was dangerous. Why didn't you all move?" He said, not noticing the frustrated and shocked expression his crewmembers and semi-crewmembers were wearing. It didn't take long for anger to over among those stuck on the cake.

"HOW CAN WE MOVE WHEN WE'RE STUCK IN WAX!" They all yelled simultaneously.

Luffy though just laughed and put on his usual smile. "Ooh why didn't you tell me, you only told me to destroy the pole!" He said totally clueless about the actual goal.

"Mister bushido! Are you sure it's ok to leave it in his hands!" Vivi said to her neighbor Zoro while he himself was having doubts too.

'Mister bushido, that's the name she has for him? Well it fits him. Especially after trying to cut his own legs off trying to escape.' Naruto thought absently as he watched what was happening, 'I guess I should help them a bit, besides it's supposed to be quite painful dying from wax and Vivi was the reason I discovered another way of communicating while I'm a fox.' He was about to step forward when he realized something with sudden clarity.

'Dammit, I'm already starting to like them. I really should leave after helping them a bit. I'll help them escape and then Mister 3 will probably disappear. I'll report to Crocodile that he escaped and everything will be fine... I hope.'

He jumped down his tree and moved behind the giant candle construction, still deciding on what to do when he saw something from the corner of his eyes. Usopp was trying to shoot Mister 3 with his small sized catapult slingshot. He shot something and yelled, "explosive bullet!" But before it reached Mister 3, Mister 5 jumped in and ate the bullet like object. The man swallowed it and seconds later it exploded inside his stomach, smoke left his ears and mouth. The method reminded Naruto of a teapot that finished boiling water. The man sighed in satisfaction as the entire process was done, though that quickly changed to a frown. "Uugh disgusting, you're using low quality gunpowder aren't you?"

Mister 5 started walking towards Usopp with an evil grin on his face with Miss Valentine followed floating in the air. Usopp sensing the danger jumped on the Carue's back and both of them ran into the forest with Mister 5 and Miss Valentine following them.

Seeing the chance Naruto used his speed to climb the wax construction unnoticed and was now standing behind Zoro still unnoticed. Miss golden week was eating senbei and green tea while watching Luffy and Mister 3 with her back towards the wax sculpture. Mister 3 and Luffy were too busy fighting to notice him.

"Ok, I just have to destroy the giant pumpkin right?" Luffy shot his arms behind him and like rubber they shot back in front of him with tremendous power behind them. "Gomu gomu no..." But before he could hit his target mister three out up a wax barrier blocking the way, "candle wall!" "Bazooka!" And they both blocked each other.

"Would you quit getting involved" Luffy yelled frustrated. "I'm the one who should be saying that. Stop interrupting my art process!" He took on his stance once more, "Candle lock!"

Luffy tried to dodge but seemed to have an idea and slowed down allowing one of his hands to be hit. "Haha got another hammer!" He smiled widely, Mister 3 who saw what he had done quickly put up another wall. "Damn! Candle wall!" "Gomu gomu no…" Luffy yelled once more as his arm stretched behind him, "hammer!" The candle wall shattered and Luffy hit Mister 3 straight in the face.

In the meantime, Naruto walked behind Zoro and poured some chakra in his claws sharpening them. He slashed the wax quickly and saw it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. It already had come loose from him just slashing it a few times. He tried to give it another try but while he was concentrating he was picked up by the neck like some kind of cat. 'What the hell is wrong with me! I can normally sense someone coming from mile away and these guys are picking me up, petting me and grabbing my tails like I'm some kind of… some kind of cat! Ugh.' He thought reprimanding himself for letting down his guard once again. Was this really going to become a habit?

"What's this?" Zoro said as he picked up the three tailed fox by the scruff. Vivi turned to him and smiled, "Naruto-kun you came to help us!" She exclaimed. Naruto turned his face away from her pouting. One of his tails lit up and text started to appear, he figured if it was the chakra doing the work he could probably do it without moving his tail and it seemed to work. "You seemed to be in trouble so I thought I'd try and help without anyone noticing but, Mister Bushido, was it, decided to blow my cover." He had written, Zoro and Nami were surprised that Vivi knew the fox but even more so when it communicated with them.

"Um Vivi, who is this and why is it helping us?" Nami said while a tick mark appeared on Naruto's head. "Please refrain from calling me an it as I'm perfectly capable of understanding you." He wrote down almost immediately, using polite words on purpose to show his point.

Vivi smiled in a somewhat sympathetic way. "This is Naruto-kun, we met him when we were with Dorry-san. He's a fox yokai apparently." Nami seemed startled and slightly frightened by Vivi casually mentioning a yokai. Zoro looked interested and continued to hold onto Naruto by the scruff. Naruto himself rolled his eyes at Nami and glared at Zoro who laughed, "feisty little fox we have here!" 'that's it.' He hit one of Zoro's hand with one of his tails, making the man let go.

The fox landed on the wax cake and turned to look up from his position down on the ground. "I am not a small fox, heck I'm much bigger in size compared to most foxes and I'm probably older than all of you!" He wrote irritated not caring if he revealed any information about himself. Zoro snorted, "yeah right I'm nineteen, I'm pretty sure foxes don't even live that long." Naruto rolled his eyes once more but at Zoro's obliviousness this time. "Hello? Fox yokai here, if anyone has noticed? Besides of that's the case I'm a decade older than you are." he wrote while smirking for a bit.

Naruto snickered a bit as Zoro muttered under his breath about stupid foxes in frustration. Not being right probably annoyed him just as much as being outwitted by what he thought to be a fox.

"Anyway what are you doing here?" Nami suddenly said gaining the attention. Naruto repeated what he had written earlier, "As I already wrote I came to help you." Nami glared at the fox slightly but by now she seemed mostly curious and less frightened. "And why would you? From what I've understood you only just met Vivi and we're strangers."

Naruto nodded conceding her that point. "Well why not? Vivi kind of helped me figure out this new way of communicating. Not even two hours ago I had to go find sand to write in. That's extremely annoying to do when you want to communicate with a human. Other than that Vivi and Luffy were nice to me, most people react like you did when they hear I'm something of a yokai." He wrote as a matter of fact.

Nami got a little red in the face after reading the last part and muttered a quiet sorry, though he heard it. "Apology accepted, now can I help or is there anything else I need to explain?" Everyone shook their head and Naruto closed his eyes once more concentrating his chakra.

Zoro watched curiously at what the fox would do while the other two were simply waiting for it to happen. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and raised his chakra enhanced claw slashing down at the wax surrounding Zoro's feet.

Within a moment Zoro's feet were loose though still surrounded by wax. "Hoooh, that's a pretty cool trick." the swordsman said. Zoro jumped of the cake to join the battle but buckled under his own weight as his feet were still wounded and cursed. "I guess I can't join the battle just yet."

The giant who had been quietly watching what was happening was surprised at what the fox could do. "That's pretty cool trick little Kyūbi." The giant said with a knowing glint in his eyes.

Naruto couldn't help but flinch slightly at the casual use of the term, but he continued to slash at the wax surrounding Nami and Vivi's legs. Nobody but the giant and Zoro noticed the flinch the fox had given. As soon as Naruto was done Vivi and Nami tried to move away from the sculpture but found they could no longer move.

Naruto noticed this and gave Vivi a small abrupt push in the back causing her to fall of the sculpture. Vivi who was startled by the sudden push let out a small yelp, but she was quickly caught by a very surprised Zoro. "What the hell did ya do that for, fox?!" Zoro yelled. "You caught her didn't you?" Naruto wrote snickering, he would have caught her even if Zoro hadn't but he wasn't about to tell them that. Next he moved to give Nami, who was saying that she didn't want to, desperately. He didn't really pay her any attention though and with one push, she fell down. She too was caught by Zoro who had been ready this time.

Naruto jumped after them and landed next to them on the ground. "So what are we going to do I still can't move." Nami said while Vivi made an agreeing sound. "Well, I can melt all the wax but since there is wax inside your bodies you're going to have stomach aches later today…" Naruto wrote with a slight apologetic tone to it. Everyone sighed when they read this but pretty much all nodded in agreement. "Ok, but how are you going to melt the wax?" Vivi asked curiously. Naruto gave a knowing smile, well as far as a fox could give one, and wrote something down before the tips of his tails burst into flames. "I'm a fox yokai, ever heard of fox fire?" He wrote down. But they were all too busy staring at the fox in flames and some nervous at the thought of that fire touching them.

Naruto was glowing slightly thanks to the fires on his tails causing his yellow fur to shine a bright yellow with orange tint, the fire on his tails were an amazing red and the heat started to melt the wax. Bit by bit all of the remaining wax was dripping onto the ground. Surprisingly none of them felt the heat of the fire directly. "Why aren't we getting burned?" Vivi asked just as surprised as the rest.

"This Fox fire is my energy, I can do with it what I want and thus decide what it touches and what it doesn't." He wrote down. After he was done he turned around and started to leave. "Wait where are you going?" Zoro asked, annoyed that he had a debt to the fox but at the same time interested by its skills.

"Well it seems your captain has defeated the candle guy temporarily and I'm not waiting here for him to start hugging me again." He wrote with a bit of snarl on his face. Vivi could only sweat drop at the brief message while Zoro and Nami had no idea what was going on and turned to Vivi for clarification.

"Luffy-san saw what Naruto-san could do and started asking him to join his crew… while hugging him to death." All of them sweat dropped at the thought before Naruto added something to her explanation." And after you got kidnapped he nearly crushed one of my tails in his hands." Naruto said walking away at a normal pace.

What Naruto once again managed to underestimate was the crew of the man who had managed to escape his guard. Who was to say the rest couldn't do so either? Once again he didn't notice was the slight smirk all three of them shared after glancing at each other slightly. They all sneaked up behind him and again before he could actually react he could feel some force keeping him from continuing on the path he'd been going.

Zoro had once again grabbed him by the scruff while Vivi and Nami where holding onto his tails. "Sorry Naruto-kun." Vivi said with a slight apologetic smile on her face, it didn't quite portray he regret though. Naruto could see a mischievous glint in her eyes, shared by Nami and strangely enough Zoro.

Naruto sighed in acquiescence. "I'm older than you guys, so why do I have to be treated like some kit." Though all of them chuckled at the small joke. "Well our captain wouldn't like for his potential crewmate to disappear, knowing him he'll chase you until the end of the world. Especially if he hasn't had an answer and we are going to prevent that." None of them admitting they were starting to like the fox.

"Well I guess I could stay for a bit, but only if you let go. I'm not going to stay if you keep holding onto me like that and believe me it's quite easy for me to get away from you." He wrote in the air giving them a pointed look. Most of them nodded and he was let go one by one. "Thank you now I suggest you help your captain as he seems to be getting himself into quite a bit of trouble."

As he said Luffy was on the ground laughing himself to death. It was a very odd scene to watch but it became even stranger when they saw this Usopp hitching a ride on Carue and hit Luffy on the back with an explosive bullet. "Usopp why are you hitting Luffy?!" Nami yelled. Usopp who was being chased by Mister 5 and Miss Valentine could only yell a short answer before he entered the forest once more.

"That girl's devil fruit is preventing Luffy from fighting!"

As he said that they saw the girl standing there with her pallet mixing colors. "Warai no kiiro and kanashimi no ao will form…" She was mixing the colors together on her pallet and after she had mixed the color she spun around once forming a strange symbol in the air. "Color trap! nagomi no midori." She said while the symbol hit Luffy on his now bare back. As the symbol hit his back Luffy stopped moving and joined the girl eating senbei extremely relaxed, unnaturally relaxed. The girl was drinking her tea and Luffy was also getting some tea from her.

"YOU'RE TOO RELAXED LUFFY!" Nami, Vivi and Zoro all yelled at their captain but they stopped as they saw Luffy struggling against the technique. Zoro who couldn't do anything with his legs was trying to force them but Naruto jumped onto his back pushing him back to the ground, forcing Zoro to stay on the ground. He himself was a bit embarrassed at having to do so but if it stopped the swordsman from moving he didn't quite mind it as much. 'I really am getting too involved in this.' he thought with a sigh.

He wrote in the air in front of Vivi and Nami telling them to help Luffy as Zoro would hurt himself worse by trying to.

"Haa fox?! What are you doing get off!" Zoro exclaimed annoyed, but Naruto shook his head and pointed with his snout towards his legs. "It's just a wound it will heal afterwards" Zoro said, but Naruto shook his head adamantly and stood up daring the swordsman to stand up with his glare. The swordsman stared back for a bit before sighing and turned around to watch what the fox would do. Naruto walked in front of him and sat down, using his tails to position one of Zoro's legs in front of him and pointed to the wound. "This is serious. The amount of blood you have lost isn't dangerous in itself but should you continue to fight and run as you normally do; you'll damage the nerves. You might never be able to walk again thus ending your life as a swordsman. You should be able to walk, but no fighting, running and training that requires pressure on the feet." Zoro's eyes slowly widened as he read the message, he opened his mouth to say something else but waited when letter continued to appear before him. "Don't worry as of now it's five against four, not counting me, you and the giant. And if you allow me to leave, without having to worry about you recklessly standing up, I can also free the giant and have him help. Giants are much sturdier so his hands won't have too much damage he can't handle." Zoro who was slightly overwhelmed with the information just nodded and sat back down giving into the threat as he watched Nami and Vivi helping Luffy get free. They weren't succeeding. At first the girl didn't seem to be too dangerous, she was just distracting them with her powers. 'Why would she distract them? Surely she can attack in some way.' Naruto thought as he continued watching.

Naruto walked towards the giant and remembered what the giant had called him earlier; 'little Kyūbi…' How does he know that term? It's supposed to be a term only used in the elemental nations, almost all knowledge to do with chakra was confined to the elemental nations now. Over time he'd even learned that most common knowledge from his home was banned by the government. Mostly folklores for some reason, that and extensive knowledge on chakra theory.' He moved towards the giant and decided not to think about it too much. He concentrated his chakra to his claws and ran towards the giant cutting his first hand loose in a couple of moves.

"Hey little Kyūbi," causing Naruto to flinch again slightly. "Ha sorry, guess that term isn't a good one for ya huh." The giant said as he looked at the relatively small fox. Naruto looked at him slightly before he continued running to the next dagger again pushing his chakra to his claws. He first slashed the second dagger, one that held the giant's hand, to pieces allowing for some relief before he shattered the other holds on his arms. He moved to the back and did the same to the wax on his feet before returning to where the first hand had been held.

"Thanks little fox." The giant said while he massaged his hurt hands. "I appreciate it." Naruto nodded before writing something again. "Why do you know that term? nobody uses that, except for the people there." He wrote stressing, "there", in his mind. The giant laughed and everyone on the clearing heard, most of them relieved to hear the giant laughing while some where panicking that everything was turning out wrong. "We giants live much longer and as such information is also held for that much longer, most giants recognize the language at least and some still speak it, I assume you are from there then?" He inquired but Naruto turned away, he nodded slightly before turning back to where Zoro was standing.

He didn't see the giant looking at him with a slightly sad smile. 'Why is a fox yokai from the elemental nation here? I thought they were nearly all gone now. He will have a hard time if anyone who knows more about his species discovers him.' The giant thought before turning his thoughts back to his giant friend.

Naruto walked back to Zoro and sat down next to him, "how is it going with them?" He asked seeing Zoro fidget and scowl. He finally couldn't seem to handle it any longer when Naruto asked. "I can't stand watching this, Luffy is still drinking tea, Vivi was hit by that kanashimi no ao or something and can't stop crying and Nami was hit by warai no kiiro was it? and can't stop laughing. Damn it's embarrassing to watch this fight. And that kid is just sitting there drinking tea and eating senbei." Zoro said actually turning a frustrating red from watching it.

Naruto laughed as he heard Zoro get so frustrated yet not breaking his promise as he kept to the ground. Zoro glared at the fox which caused Naruto to laugh even harder. "You're amazing you know that, being that frustrated but still keeping your promise?" Zoro calmed down slightly and shrugged turning a bit more serious.

"Well I have got a debt to you to pay off." Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Zoro sighed for a bit before elaborating, "you helped us out of that wax thing". Naruto nodded now understanding. "Thanks." Zoro added. Almost as soon as he said this Naruto turned his own shade of red. He wasn't very used to getting compliments from anyone but Robin, he used to turn red around her when he was small but they had gotten used to each other's presence and weren't bothered by something like that anymore. Besides he had always been the more emotionally compromised of the two. Robin could easily keep a stoic façade but Naruto often let his emotion influence his decisions. He did manage to keep it to a minimum though in this business to make sure nothing bothered him too much so why was it this crew took it off so easily?

Zoro saw the fox turning an awkward shade of orange-red and laughed, "foxes can turn red too, didn't know that!" And laughed even more when Naruto buried his head under his paws.

Zoro laughed but kept an eye on the battle. "Hey isn't it time to do something, they really aren't going to win like that." Naruto raised his head, calming slightly and also watched the battle or rather the relaxing tea party. They had now all been hit by nagomi no midori and were having a peaceful tea time with senbei and green tea. Zoro pondered for a moment and Naruto watched. "How would she draw if that pallet wasn't there, I mean I can't do anything but it doesn't feel right attacking someone who isn't doing any damage." Zoro said, Naruto nodded agreeing with the swordsman. "I doubt she can draw without drawing supplies."

"So how are we going to separate it from her, without getting caught in that color trap?" Naruto stood up and walked a bit in front of Zoro to make sure he wasn't in the way. "I've got an idea; does it matter if the pallet gets destroyed?" Naruto asked Zoro, Zoro just shook his head and watched interested in what the fox was going to do.

Naruto sat down and moved his tails in front of his snout, the tips forming a small triangle without touching each other. He concentrated a small amount of chakra into the tips and a small bijuu-dama started to form. Zoro watched interestedly as he wondered what such a small thing could do.

Naruto concentrated to make it the least dangerous he could, making sure it only destroyed the pallet. He sent a pulse out to check for anyone else and sensed Usopp somewhere behind him. Having checked for any unanticipated variables he shot the bijuu-dama towards the girl and hit the pallet, burning it while passing by the girl. No damage was done to her hands in the process, his aim was just that good. The bijuu-dama kept going into the forest where it burned down a few trees.

Everyone was surprised by the abrupt happening, Vivi had already seen it before and wasn't as surprised. Because almost of them were still under the effect of the color trap though they couldn't quite show their surprise physically. Miss Golden Week was shocked herself and looked down to her hands, noticing her pallet was no longer in her hands.

She didn't quite react in a way anyone had expected though.

She started to cry. For some reason the effect of the color trap was released when she started crying and Nami, Vivi and Luffy all shook out of their relaxed state. Luffy though had been so relaxed he had fallen asleep during the process.

Naruto who was feeling a bit guilty walked over to the girl, "Sorry but I said I would protect them and I don't go back on my word. If you don't mind me asking, why are you doing this anyway?" He was careful not to show he knew anything about baroque works in particular. The girl sniffed and looked at the fox in front of her, "hmm, don't know." She said slowly returning back into her laid back character, but still sniffing a bit. "I guess I was bored." Naruto sweat dropped slightly at that answer. 'Joining a criminal organization because she was bored, talk about laid back…' he thought briefly.

"You like painting?" He asked, she nodded slightly still sniffing. "Then why don't you become a painter? With your skills you could even do some bounty hunting to make some money if you're bored and with your painting skills I bet you could do both of them." He wrote and snickered a bit when he saw her eyes widen in realization. "Um, yeah I could do that. That sounds really great actually." She smiled and hugged him a bit. 'Yeah I saw that one coming… so why is it so different with the Strawhat pirates?' He thought absently as he let the little girl hug him for a bit.

'Well I am fluffy as a fox, so I can understand wanting to hug though.' Robin often did it when he was a fox, but that was mostly out of habit from when they were small. Oh and because apparently he had lovely fur as a fox, he resented that though! If anything he would call his fur handsome not lovely, something more manly.

She slowly let go and looked him in the eyes. "Thanks Mister fox." She said as she smiled brightly, not a laid back one." If I ever hear from you again and you need something just ask. Tell them…" She pointed to the pirates, "sorry, I didn't really want to hurt them, that was Mister 3's job." Naruto nodded and she stood up and walked back into the forest. Naruto shortly wondered how she would defend herself but by the way she walked she probably knew some sort of martial arts.

He walked back to where Zoro was sitting and sighed while everyone was staring at him perplexed. "What did you do, she just started crying?" Nami said utterly confused. "She was upset that her pallet broke, then she told me she was bored so she joined those guys and lastly I gave her a suggestion to become painter and she really looked like she had never considered the option. So she left to pursue that goal." He wrote to her before he sat down next to Zoro.

Nami then turned to Zoro, "and why are you sitting there all comfy?" She said with a smile on her face, though it looked really demonic to most of them. Zoro had an apprehensive look on his face and tried to smile just a bit, "sorry but I couldn't help, or rather I wasn't allowed by the fox." This time he was glaring at the fox.

"Naruto-kun didn't let you? Why?" Vivi asked before Nami could do so herself. Zoro sighed and pointed to his legs. "According to foxy here, if I try to move my legs in any way intently, I'll damage the nerves and I'll probably never be able to walk again. So I am not allowed to run or fight. Walking seems to allowed but foxy here won't allow it yet as he says I'll go and fight." Vivi nodded and Naruto glared at the nickname.

"Pfft, your fault for trying to cut your own legs." Nami said pointing at Zoro. Naruto looked at Zoro unbelievingly, "you tried to cut your own legs?" Zoro smirked, "Yeah well, had to escape in some way didn't I?" Naruto gaped at Zoro, "you're a real idiot, an actual one. Even I'm not that stupid." He wrote as Nami started laughing while Zoro gained a tick mark.

"By the way where is Usopp-san?" Vivi asked and everyone turned to her. Naruto send out a quick burst of chakra and saw Usopp and Carue standing next to two people on the ground. Naruto barked once and pointed towards the forest in a direction. "Is Usopp there?" Nami asked and he nodded.

They started to move towards the place he pointed but seconds later Usopp came riding on Carue. "Hahaha, the great Usopp-sama has defeated the enemy!" He exclaimed in his bruised, burned and hurt state. He looked over the clearing and saw everyone was barely hurt, except for Zoro but that was self-inflicted. "Aaah! why is everyone fine and I'm totally battered?" he said. Everyone noticed what he was talking about a burst out laughing.

"Usopp-san you managed to beat both of them?!" Vivi asked shocked. "Yeah, the great Usopp-sama has beaten both of them." But as soon as he said that he was hit on the head by Carue. "well Carue also helped me a lot." As he started to tell how he beat them in a grand manner. Really he was just telling them he made the bomb guy eat tabasco after which he fainted, while the girl tried to crush him with her weight but failing and landing on a piece of rock and hit her head. They all laughed as he told them his story lying half of the time.

"Woaaaaaaaaaaah, where are you candle guy!" They suddenly heard. Luffy was waking up and looked around him half asleep. "Where's the candle guy?" Everyone looked around them and saw he wasn't laying where he was supposed to be. 'Well it's easier for me to explain if he actually escaped…' Naruto thought not really interested or worried.

"Luffy the fight is over, we won." Nami said and Luffy looked around once more but this time his stare landed on Naruto. The fox realized what this meant tried to runaway only to be held by the tail by Zoro who was smirking brightly. "Told ya, you won't be getting away!" Naruto could feel his fur stand up and watched anxiously as Luffy got closer. "Fox. Join my crew!" The captain yelled as he started to run towards Naruto. The fox himself was close to panicking and instinctively used the substitution jutsu. Replacing himself with Usopp who was now as a results being grabbed by Zoro and pounced by Luffy.

Meanwhile Naruto had perched himself on Carue's back.

He chirped something in Carue's ear and the duck quacked in agreement before running to the other side of the clearing to get away from the rubber man. Everyone was laughing as Naruto and Carue tried their best to avoid Luffy.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!" The loud noise echoed throughout the island and they saw the giant crying his heart out. Usopp was now sitting next to him trying to calm down his 'teacher', as the liar called the giant for some reason. For the most of them it felt as if they were drowning, the amount of water Broggy let loose when crying was as a waterfall had been placed above them. Almost everyone was now holding their ears to make the loud sound hurt less. Naruto was entirely rolled up in a ball because of his sensitive ears.

"UOOOOOOOOOOH, WHY MY FRIEND." Apparently he was crying because his friend had died, Naruto was pretty sure though that Dorry was still alive. Almost as soon as he had thought that the crying stopped. He uncurled himself, his vision still spinning and impaired for a moment before it focused. Standing next to Broggy was Dorry who was slowly trying to get up without pressuring his wound too much.

"How?" Broggy started, but Dorry cut him off. "The weapons, they're old. The wound I have isn't that serious, I don't think these weapons will hold on for much longer." Dorry said and Broggy nodded and started to laugh hugging his friends. "Broggy if you hug me that much you'll hurt my wound." The giant said but both of them were laughing.

"Thank god you have survived my friend GABABABA, what a splendid day this is, let us thank the god of Elbaf!" Broggy yelled.

"Are you happy you finally landed a hit on me and making me pass out?" Dorry said in a playful tone and Broggy just laughed. "You know I don't mean that." As he hugged Dorry once more.

"Stop touching my wound GEGYAGYAGYA." Dorry said while Broggy just laughed and all of a sudden they started a fit again telling each other how he would beat him. The Strawhats were laughing while Nami screamed at them to stop. Naruto just shook his head at their antics.

Ten minutes later everyone was having fun and relaxing a bit back at the cave where Dorry normally stays. Naruto was taking a small nap while listening to the surroundings. Zoro, Vivi and Nami were talking to the giants while Luffy, Usopp and Carue were eating senbei, wherever those had come from.

"Thanks, you little ones really helped us out there." Broggy said, "Yeah we'd totally forgotten we had those bounties." Dorry continued.

"Yeah but, they would never have come here in the first place if it wasn't for me." Vivi said sadly, before she could continue her apology though she was pinched on the cheek by Nami. "Don't say that." She pointed to where Usopp, Luffy and Carue where munching on senbei in ridiculously odd ways. "Do any of them look like they're bothered?" Nami asked her, she looked down. "No but..." Nami pulled her face up and smiled, "no buts. We don't mind and have forgiven you. Hell we weren't even mad cause we don't even blame you for anything." Vivi smiled slightly and nodded while listening to Luffy kid around.

Zoro though took the discussion in a more serious direction, "But we're in serious trouble if we have to wait for the log to set before we can return." he said. "Yeah we can't wait here that long." Nami agreed.

"Can't you misters do something about it?" Luffy asked like it should be their life goal to do so. Most of them just shook their heads at the captain. Naruto had an eternal pose to Alabasta but to get it he'd have to transform back and he just wouldn't risk that. Besides he wasn't really planning on going with them anyway, so he kept quiet to see where the discussion would head.

Surprisingly the answer came in the form of that curly browed guy he'd seen together with Robin.

The man came running out of the forest with a loud yell causing Naruto to open an eye in observation. "Nami swaaaaan! Vivi chwaaaaaan! I'm back. Thank god you're all safe!" the guy yelled. "SANJI! There you are." Luffy said enthusiastically, waving at the guy. Sanji came running towards them but stopped as he saw one of the giant, "Whoaaaa! Are you Mister 3?" He said taking a fighting stance.

Nami who was curious about how he knew that asked him but the guy pretty much just started to flirt with her and Vivi. Naruto was no longer interested in the pervert and closed his eyes.

He could hear Sanji get pounded into the ground by Nami while she told him to explain where he had been. Sanji immediately obeyed her wish and told them that he found a small house in the forest and had entered it. Naruto listened attentively as he recognized the brief description of the 'small house'. He told them he picked up a ringing den den mushi there and ended up having a conversation with Crocodile. Apparently Sanji had told the man the mission was a success and that the Strawhat crew had been eliminated. On top of that he had found an eternal pose in the house to Alabasta.

After hearing this Naruto was a bit conflicted, he had to report to Crocodile in a couple of weeks at most. If Naruto told him the targets had all been eliminated, he would be lying and Crocodile would find out. But if he told the man they were alive he'd be killing the advantage they had.

He would have think carefully about that later.

At the revelation that Sanji had gotten them an eternal pose to Alabasta, everyone started to celebrate and Naruto couldn't continue his nap so he woke up. The fox sat there watching all of them. He stood up once and slowly tried to walk away unnoticed. Of course someone from the Strawhat crew noticed and alerted the rest. He who had stayed an unknown entity for eleven years never noticed by anyone, was noticed by a group of kids who, for the most part, didn't have any training whatsoever. He really hated kami right now.

"Hey fox where are you going? You're going to join my crew!" Luffy yelled running to him. Naruto's first instinct was to get away from Luffy and unknowingly moved closer to the rest of the crew.

Sanji who had no idea asked Vivi next to him. "That is a fox right? How is it supposed to join the crew when it's an animal?" Naruto who heard this got agitated and Vivi noticed this. But before she could say anything letter were appearing in front of Sanji's face.

"I am NOT an it, my name is Naruto and I am perfectly capable of communicating and thinking, thank you very much. As for being an animal I don't see Carue being any different and he helped Usopp defeat the enemy." Vivi laughed a bit while Sanji's mouth fell down in shock. "Sanji-san, Naruto-kun has already heard the same thing several times today so he's a bit frustrated. He's told us he's a fox yokai so I guess that explains things a bit about the being an animal part." She told him.

Out of the whole crew Sanji was the fastest to recover and turned to Naruto. "Well, sorry for earlier then. It's nice to meet you Naruto." Naruto looked at the hand he had stuck out in front of him, he moved his tail and shook the hand politely. The man surprisingly had impeccable manners. Slightly embarrassed by his outburst he gained a slight orange hue again. 'Damn it I really have to get used to this fast. How the hell does Robin control this?' He thought, Robin was just like him not quite used to kindness but he had a feeling Robin wouldn't show any embarrassment on her face no matter what.

"Haha, he's turning red again." Zoro yelled laughing and holding his sides. Everyone turned to him and his snout flared up almost similarly to certain someone back in the elemental nations. Everyone started to laugh. "Why the hell are you blushing for something like this?" Sanji asked a bit surprised by the change in reaction.

Naruto curled up trying to save some face while the letters appeared in the air. "I'm not used to this ok!" Everyone was still laughing and snickering and this time Vivi asked. "What do you mean? Not used to what? And please don't feel offended it's just you're so cute like this!" Everyone was nodding vigorously at the last comment and Naruto looked up from behind his tail, more indignant than embarrassed now.

"DON'T call me cute! I may be a fox but I'm still a guy! And as for why, I'm just not that used to kindness ok!" He said his blush receding a bit but still trying to calm down. Everyone quieted down a bit in compassion but nobody enquired any further, it was personal business. "Anyway." they suddenly heard Luffy again, "you will join our crew right?"

Naruto's flush had receded entirely and he looked up and Luffy with a tilt of his head. "Why?" He asked curiously. Luffy smiled, "cause you're cool!" Naruto sweat dropped a bit. "And that's a reason?" He asked. Luffy nodded, "yeah, I'm the captain and I like you so join my crew!" He looked around and saw plenty of the crew stare at him with hope filling their eyes. "What about your crew?" He asked.

Luffy turned around, "You all want him to join too right?" They all nodded while Sanji just stared a bit before adding his own a small nod. "See they all want you to join!" Luffy said as he turned back.

Naruto sighed for a bit, he couldn't stay with them forever as he needed to return to Robin sooner or later, but maybe staying with them for a while wouldn't matter. He had a bit less than two weeks to return to Alabasta and riding with them would make the trip a bit more interesting. After that he could leave them and if necessary act like he betrayed them so as not be a burden on either sides. He sighed and nodded, "Ok, but don't expect anything from me or you'll be sorely disappointed." He forewarned seriously.

But most of it fell on blind eyes as they swarmed and welcomed him. 'They're the ones who'll regret it.' Naruto thought absently, but somehow he had the feeling he would too.

They all left for the boat, each saying their goodbyes to the giants. While Zoro and Sanji were discussing, really rather fighting, about who had caught the bigger pray. Naruto stayed in between them to make sure Zoro wouldn't start fighting physically with his feet just yet.

Half an hour later they were all back at the ship, Zoro and Sanji had gotten their prey back to the ship. Though Naruto had gotten Zoro to get Luffy to help carry it. They were still fighting over which was bigger and neither would relent.

"Hey guys, we can't carry that much so why don't you take as much meat as we can carry?" Nami called out and Sanji immediately agreed leaving only Zoro to bicker.

"Hey Usopp, mine is bigger isn't it?" He asked slightly annoyed. "Huh, I couldn't care less." Usopp said and Vivi joined in, "Is a tie no good?" She asked. But Zoro shook his head, "There are no ties in a contest." Naruto just shook his head as he watched everything on the ship trying withhold his laugh.

After they had packed all the meat they could they were sailing down the river onto the ocean, when Luffy noticed the giants. "Hey look the giants have come see us off!" The giants were standing at the edge of the island facing the ocean. "The most important reason why all the little ones who come to this island…" Broggy started. "Do not reach the next island lies ahead." Dorry finished. "You all risked your lives so our pride remains untarnished…" Broggy carried on, "thus in turn no matter the foe... "

"We must not let your flag of pride be tarnished either!" The both of them finished as their ship passed beside them out onto the ocean.

"Trust in us and sail straight ahead. No matter what happens sail only straight ahead."

Luffy repeated, "Straight ahead." Determined while everyone else wondered at what the giants meant. "Let us meet again in the future." Both added. Suddenly the sea started to bulge as a giant sea creature surfaced. "Look ahead!" Nami panicked.

"So you have come; 'Island devourer'…" Dorry started. "In the name of Elbaf, we vow to clear the way!" Broggy finished. The giant goldfish opened his mouth wide trying to swallow the caravel moving its way.

Almost everyone on the ship was panicking as they sailed straight into the mouth of the giant goldfish. Nami and Vivi wanted to turn helm and get away but Usopp, who was acting bravely for once, wanted to keep on going straight. Luffy and Zoro agreed. Naruto was having a nap and didn't really care, he was tired from all the worrying he had done that day. Sanji wondered on whether he could trust the giants.

All in all, they ended up in the mouth of the goldfish.

The two giants raised their weaponry into the air and gathered all of their strength into a single combined attack. Really all of their pent up energy they called out together. "HAKOKU!"

The fish ended up having a giant hole in its body while the boat and its crew were send out flying over the ocean away from Little Garden and onto a new adventure.


	11. The sick and chimney like mountains

**Chapter 11**

 **Byōnin to entotsu ni niteiru yama**

They'd been on sea now for a couple of hours now since the adventure at Little Garden. Naruto could already officially say; this crew is crazy. Ever since they left the island there hasn't been a moment of peace. Naruto was constantly busy keeping Zoro from training as he thought he would have been able to cut through the wax if he had been stronger. Luffy and Usopp were running across the deck acting like children, technically they weren't adults but still…

Despite Sanji's weird quarks he was actually one of the most normal aside from the girls and he was cooking at the moment. But what held his attention at the moment was Nami, she was looking really flushed. She had already asked Vivi to check the eternal pose and log pose for her.

At the moment she was sitting down on the staircase that led to the kitchen. Naruto walked over to Nami and stood in front of her and before anyone could ask what he was doing he had his forehead pressed against right up against hers. "Measuring her temperature." He wrote for them after he was finished. "She has a fever."

Vivi's face paled with worry and she turned to face Nami, "why didn't you say so? A fever or any sickness can be very dangerous on the grand line!" She stated firmly, slightly upset her friend wouldn't tell her something so important. Nami shrugged a bit but the flush grew as she did this and before anything else could be said she collapsed right next to them.

"EVERYONE NAMI HAS COLLAPSED WITH A FEVER." Vivi yelled to alert the rest of the crew.

Not even moments later they had all gathered in Nami's room, well everyone except for Zoro. Nami was covered in blankets and anything warm they had been able to find. Sanji was crying in the corner of the room muttering his doubts on whether 'his' Nami was going to die or not. Vivi had explained that on the ocean even the most insignificant illness could be the cause of someone's death. The grand line was one widely spread unknown and one could never anticipate what might happen. Thus you had to be prepared for anything to happen.

"Isn't there anyone on this ship who has medical knowledge?" She asked but all who heard immediately pointed to Nami, well except for Naruto. He couldn't really have known that after all.

"But I bet she'll get better if we get her some meat!" Luffy stated confidently in his usual happy go lucky mood. Though he did seem to act a little less happy at that moment. Maybe the seriousness of the situation did actually register with him? Sanji nodded in agreement with his captain, "Well I obviously plan on giving her nutritious meals that are easy enough to digest even for sick people but even all that goes only so far to be called "nursing", it may not actually cure her." He explained, his reasoning far more logical than those of their captain.

"And in the first place when it comes to preparing meals for Vivi and Nami. I only use the freshest meats and vegetables to cook a perfectly balanced meal for them. The leftover scraps and ingredients on the verge of spoiling are given to you." Sanji said pointing to the overall male population of the room. As a result, Usopp was muttering about a mean cook while Luffy just mentioned that it was delicious either way.

Sanji continued, "In any case as long as I'm the chef on this ship, there won't be any troubles related to malnutrition or such. So if someone is sick then that's because of a completely different illness. And unless I know what that is, I won't know what type of meal to prepare would be best either." Sanji finished explaining.

"Couldn't you just eat everything instead?" Luffy said obliviously. But Sanji hit him on the head with a small playful punch, "Not having energy enough to eat is what we call being sick in the first place, you idiot."

"Forty degrees! Her fever rose again." Vivi exclaimed having just measured. Usopp turned to Vivi, "There should be doctors in Alabasta right? How long till we get there Vivi?" She looked down and sighed, "I don't know but definitely more than a week." It became quiet for a while.

"Is being sick really that painful?" Luffy asked tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Vivi could only look at the rubber man with disbelief. Naruto could see she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. To be honest though he himself was actually also quite curious to the answer. He had never been sick before, Robin had been though, multiple times even.

As soon as Luffy had asked everyone started to think about it and Sanji, Usopp and Naruto all answered at the same time. "I don't know, haven't been sick before…" All of the crossing their arms and tilting their heads in confusion.

"Are you guys really human?" Vivi muttered referring to the human male populace of the room. She wouldn't quite know how to fit Naruto in that statement. "Of course it's painful, forty degrees is enough to kill a person!" Of course her statement wasn't quite received the way she probably thought it would have been. Sanji returned to his corner muttering while Luffy and Usopp ran through the cabin screaming that Nami would die. Before Vivi could do anything to stop them Nami woke up and sat up.

"Nami-san you have to lie down." Vivi said but her efforts where denied when Nami moved her hand to point to a desk in the room. "There's a newspaper on my desk." She said panting heavily. Vivi went to get the newspaper and sat down to read it, her face getting paler and paler the more she read.

"That can't be 300.000 soldiers of the royal armed forces have switched sides to join the rebels?! Originally the 600.000 soldiers could contain the rebels that were only 400.000 thousand soldiers strong. But now the situation is the other way around!" Her voice was filled with shock and despair.

"Sorry Vivi, this newspaper is from three days ago, I didn't want to worry you about this so I hid it." Nami said as she panted and her face flushed even more. She turned to her captain, "Do you understand Luffy?" she asked him.

"Sounds like an emergency." Answered Luffy as he listened seriously for once. "Yeah Luffy, I'm surprised I managed to get through to you." She tried to get up while Usopp tried to reason with her once more. "But we should get you to a doctor!"

Nami tried to shrug it off with nonchalance. "Nah, that thermometer's broken anyway there's no way a human can have a fever of 40 degrees, it's probably just a heatstroke. I'll be better in no time." She said standing up and walking towards the door. "Anyway we'll be heading for Alabasta as planned." They all shared a glance in worry before Naruto followed her up the deck. Vivi stayed behind to think about what she had read. Naruto turned to look behind him for a brief moment but he could see Vivi needed time to sort her feelings. Luffy and Sanji were still there anyway.

He walked up the stairs in time to hear Nami shouting at Zoro with frustration. "Clouds move and change shape you know, how the hell can you try to find the right direction like that?!" Naruto sweat dropped at the idea of trying to head somewhere by following a cloud. "Uuh my head hurts." He could have heard her mutter. "That's why you should rest and leave the rest to me." Zoro said causing Nami to just sigh. "The atmosphere's changed." She muttered. "Zoro call everyone else to deck." But Naruto and the other had already moved from the stairs onto the deck before she could.

"All of you we've got work to do." Zoro told them, "Take the helm and steer for south." He told Sanji. "Eeh I don't feel like taking orders from you." Sanji huffed as he leant against the main mast. Zoro was about to tell the curly browed cook to just listen, when Naruto made Sanji a message telling him Nami said so, he started moving. "Lower the winds so we can catch the wind from portside." Zoro told the rest.

They all did what they were told while Naruto was given the eternal pose to keep an eye on it. So he sat there making sure they were on course. The crew tried multiple times to get Nami to go back inside but she refused every time, looking out onto the ocean with a distant look. "What's wrong Nami?" Naruto asked her, she was acting odd despite being sick.

She smiled at him a bit, "I have a feeling there is going to be a strong wind from where we were headed just now and it felt different than normal, I'm just worried that's all." Naruto nodded, his instincts also told him to stay away from where the direction they had been heading in.

They all finished up their respective jobs on the ship and Naruto continued to check the eternal pose every now and then when Vivi showed up again on deck. "I have a request to ask of you." She said seriously. "I know that it's not my place to make such demands since you've already let me on this ship and all... But with the emerging crisis in my country, I want to go there as soon as possible. Not even a single moment can be spared. That's why, I ask for this ship to head for Alabasta at the fastest speed!" Vivi told them.

"Of course like we promised." Nami said forcing a smile on her face despite all of the pain. Everyone just stared at Vivi not quite knowing how to react to this dangerous favor. They couldn't really help but smile though as the princess continued her request.

"That's why we need to find an island with a doctor immediately. We have to see to it that Nami-san gets better as fast as possible, and then head for Alabasta. That'll be the fastest way this ship can sail, right?" Vivi said winking at the crew with a mischievous smile.

Luffy yelled loudly in agreement and Sanji said something about falling in love with her all over again. Before they could continue to appreciate her little speech though, a giant cyclone appeared out of nowhere behind them. It was huge, towering over the ship like a giant and making all of them feel like ants. The most shocking thing of all though was that it had emerged exactly where they had been heading moments before.

'Incredible a cyclone on the grand line is said to be unpredictable! Nami can actually sense something like that based on her senses? That's incredible.' Both Naruto and Vivi were thinking similarly about the young navigator.

"COME ON GUYS, let's hurry it up guys. We have to keep heading south to find a doctor!" Luffy yelled while everyone agreed. They forced Nami back in bed and everyone returned to their respective places, Sanji and Vivi stayed by Nami while Naruto, Zoro, Luffy and Usopp all stayed on deck.

After a couple of hours waiting and checking the course it started to snow and continued the whole night and next day.

The next day Naruto walked onto the deck and immediately notice that Zoro was once more trying to train in his post on the crow's nest, using his feet. Naruto walked up the mast making sure Zoro and anybody else didn't notice him, he walked towards Zoro, he jumped into the crow's nest and gave him a 'loud' message in front of his face. "TRY TRAINING ONE MORE TIME AND YOU WON'T BE SEEING ANY OF THOSE TRAINING TOOLS AGAIN." Said message was illustrated with capital letters and hand an extra creepy font to make sure his threat was taken seriously. Zoro immediately dropped his training tools having the strange feeling that Naruto would actually do something like that.

Naruto nodded, "good boy." Leaving that little addition right in front of the swordsman. He couldn't help but smirk at the tick mark of annoyance on Zoro's forehead. The green haired man took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and turned to face Naruto. Whatever the other had planned to do in retaliation didn't quite come to fruits just yet.

Zoro froze abruptly for a moment before moving to the side of the crow's nest. Naruto who had entered the place wasn't quite tall enough to look over the side without some kind of boost. So he jumped onto the rails with his front legs similarly to the way a dog would and tried to see what Zoro was looking at. After a few seconds of searching he found it, it was a man standing on the water. Well he hadn't seen that before…

"Hey guys!" Zoro yelled down at Luffy and Usopp as they turned to him, "either that Mister Black or there is someone else who can walk on water!" Luffy and Usopp ran to the front of the ship. They saw the man standing in front of the ship staring at them. The man had wavy lips and a sad expression. He was wearing dark green pants and blue boots with yellow laces. He wore a jester like blue green costume that was checkered. He also had a winter cape tied around his neck that fell down to his feet with a light brown bow and a bag of arrows on his back.

Suddenly the man opened his mouth, "It's quite cold today isn't it?" He asked them in a conversational manner. Luffy and Usopp who had been taken by surprise just nodded at first. It didn't take long for Luffy to just take it in stride. "Yeah it is cold" Luffy said causing Usopp to agree. "Yeah it's freezing today."

"Is that so?" The man actually looked surprised as if he hadn't thought of that before. Nobody knew what to make of this guy but before they could even come to a decision a giant ship resurfaced. It was a lot bigger than the Going Merry Go. It made their ship seem like a seed compared to a walnut. At that moment the ship was entirely covered in metal, which was probably allowing it to travel under water, with only the mast poking out of the top.

As soon as they had resurfaced entirely all of the metal that covered the deck was reeled back in. It was structured in such a way that the strips of metal could be rolled up on deck. Eventually a very grandiose but relatively normal ship appeared. It had a giant animal head at the front just like the Merry Go, it wasn't a sheep but a hippo with a small crown. When they were done reconfiguring their ship and making it rise with the waves they rose their pirate flag.

"Ooh shit, it had to be a pirate ship didn't it?" Usopp exclaimed with buckling knees, already hiding behind the mast on their ships. But his fear wasn't entirely exaggerated as they watched a lot of soldier come out of the ship entering theirs with guns pointed at everyone.

The soldiers moved around the ship taking places all around it and keeping their guns pointed towards them, Naruto and Zoro who were in the crow's nest were ordered to come down. None of them resisted because they didn't know what the other pirate crew wanted exactly, besides it could have negative effects on Nami's health should it escalate. Zoro climbed down the mast nimbly, while Naruto, who didn't want to reveal all that he could do just yet, jumped into the nets climbing down with a grace you wouldn't expect of a fox.

After the soldier had occupied their ships and Zoro and Naruto had come down Sanji decided to join in. "Hey what's going on here!" He yelled as he burst onto the deck. "We were ambushed." Luffy said calmly, there was no surprise or fear on his face. Sanji in a manner just as calmly as his captain looked out over the deck and noticed the amount of people that were now on deck. He agreed verbally as two guys pointed guns at his head from beside him.

They all stood there for a while until suddenly another very big guy entered their boat, "hmm that makes four people on this ship." The man said munching on a piece of meat that was wrapped around the edge of his sword. "There can't only be four people on a ship like this, can there?" The guy mumbled to himself as he bit on his sword eating the meat and the sword entirely. "Well whatever." He continued to chew on the sword he had just eaten.

Naruto was standing next to Zoro and Luffy keeping the attention away from him, he was quite hard to miss. Everything went the way it was supposed, the other crew dismissed him immediately as some kind of pet. Just like humans were supposed to when he looked like a fox, 'so why is it that my stealth just doesn't seem to work on these guys.' He thought glancing at the two standing next to him before pulling his mind back to the situation.

The man eating his sword was small. He had a tin lower jaw for some reason and it was probably the reason he could eat a sword. He was very big in size, more so in width than in length. He was dressed for the cold weather wearing a scarf like cape over his head that was the same animal as the one on their boat. Naruto doubted it was real but it did look like it was, the animals head was on the guy's head while it's legs were wrapped around his neck to keep it in place. On his back the scarf ended like a cape reaching all the way down to his legs.

The man was also wearing tin plates on his chest and around his arms ending in mittens that kept his hands warm. Because of this his entire upper body was covered. His pants had some kind of orange purple skirt like clothing with warm woolen and leather shoes.

At that moment he was standing there looking down on them as if he owned the place. Even though the guy had barely done anything he was already starting to get on Naruto's nerves. 'I bet he's one of those really arrogant guys that has always gotten whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it.' Naruto thought, he was seriously considering attacking him while the guy hadn't actually done anything yet.

Everyone who had been watching could almost feel the phantom aches in their jaws as the guy continued to chew on the very sharp and very pointy knife. After a couple of minutes, he was finally done and swallowed the entire thing. He cleared his mouth he started to speak, "We wish to head for drum kingdom, do you happen to have an eternal pose of even log pose on you?" He asked not even looking at them directly.

'Bingo' Naruto thought, noticing the guy's arrogance.

"No we've never even heard of the place. "Sanji answered calmly. "If you're done asking then hurry up and go away." Luffy stated irritably. 'Of course go and anger the enemy!' Naruto thought at the usual idiotic actions of Luffy.

But the guy didn't seem to be infected in anyway by Luffy's words instead he just slowly walked towards the side of the Merry Go and glanced down at the sea for a while. After doing so he leaned on the railing of the boat and turned to them, "there's no need to rush through life like that... Well then if you don't have it then I might as well take all the treasure you have and the boat as well." He took a bite out of the ship and literally ate the piece, even swallowing it.

Everyone was perplexed, it looked as if his entire body had become his mouth, the piece of their boat he was eating was bigger than his body. They were all a bit too surprised to try to stop him until Usopp had had enough of him ravaging their boat.

"Don't eat this ship!" Usopp yelled earning angrily while one of the other crew put a gun to his head. "Don't you dare move your highness is having his meal." The soldier yelled at him, but before the soldier could do anything else Luffy had already hit him unconscious. The captain was just as mad about them wrecking the ship as Usopp was.

As soon as Luffy hit the soldier unconscious every other soldier on the ship pointed their guns at the crew getting ready to fight. The Strawhat crew who had been itching for a fight could finally let loose and all of them, except for a certain liar, charged the men. Sanji kicked every man on the ship that came close to him while dodging all the bullets heading their way. Occasionally getting into a fight with Zoro when he slashed someone whom Sanji had targeted. Zoro had taken down multiple man forgetting about his injuries and slashed at everyone in his path.

Naruto who had specifically told Zoro not to fight couldn't help but be irritated. Sure he was very strong, but right now he was a fox and that limited the things he could actually do. As a human he could grab Zoro by, let's say the ear and dump him inside the boat but as a fox he didn't have any hands. As a human he could yell at him to stop or he'd steal all his training tool like he had told him earlier, but as a fox he could only write the message. He doubted Zoro would take the time to read it in a battle.

And so he decided to make use of a different skill he had learned over the year. Really he had wanted to keep most of his tricks hidden for a bit longer.

Back in the elemental nation the old man had never told him much about his parents. He only knew that his father was human and his mother wasn't. But rumors were another thing entirely. Knowing his mother's name had gotten him more information on the streets than he had expected at first. There wasn't much to go on for his dad but he knew a few facts about his mum. One of them was that she used to have the nickname 'Red Hot-Blooded Habanero' and that she had a signature technique that was quite famous.

After his chakra control had gotten really good, after training it so extensively it had had better. Eventually he had decided to try and replicate that specific technique he had heard his mother used; The chakra chains. From the description it was a manifestation of chakra in the form of chains. During his training he had mused on the idea of creating another weapon but eventually he settled for the chains anyway. It would be a keepsake from his mum. Something to connect him to her. Besides if he wanted to he could always try to apply the technique differently after he finished creating the chains.

After a long time of trying he finally got the trick down on how to form his chakra the way he wanted it and on how to get it to physically manifest.

Naruto gathered as much chakra as he could control reliably and formed it into a number of chains, he sent one out to grab Zoro and tie him to the mast leaving the swordsman there unable to fight. Meanwhile he sent the others take out enemies. Naruto made sure nobody reached Zoro, it was a bit unfair to tie him up and leave him to be a target.

Usopp was, surprisingly, not fighting, note the sarcasm. The liar was still hiding at any safe place he could find. The sniper was watching Naruto fight and thought on how awesome it looked for a fox to be fighting like that. Inspired by the 'little' fox, who was way older than him, not that he knew, he got his catapult slingshot and started to shoot down soldier with his explosive bullets. He still ran though when they got too close.

Last but not least Luffy who didn't like the guy that was eating their ship was trying to get him to stop doing so. He hit everyone who was in his way and made his way to the tin man. "Stop eating our ship!" He yelled angrily, jumping the man.

The man slowly turned around and saw Luffy attacking him but he didn't turn to dodge or even to attack. The first thing he did was open his mouth. Luffy who was in the middle of the air with his arms far behind him getting ready to attack couldn't quite dodge in time and was swallowed whole. The man slowly started to chew on Luffy mentioning something about how chewy he was, while Luffy's arms still bungled far away from him.

"What's going on here!?" Vivi yelled as she just now ran up the deck. "I heard gunshots." Nobody answered her, the surroundings would give her the answers she wanted anyway. Naruto walked up to Vivi with Zoro being pathetically pulled behind him and Sanji laughing at the sight. The green haired man grumbled under his breath and glared towards the fox. He didn't struggle as much as he could have though.

"How's Nami doing" Naruto asked her, Sanji who had been laughing pulled himself together to hear the answer after he had read the message. Vivi who was finally getting used to the ruckus the Strawhats caused just sighed. "She's not doing well; I really don't know how long we have but she is getting worse." It became quiet for a moment until the heard a muffled sound.

Luffy who was still being eaten was saying something as his arms returned to where they were supposed to be. "BAZOOKA!" He yelled probably having put a 'gomu gomu no' in front of it when he had been lodged in the man's mouth. The tin man flew away out over the ocean and Luffy was once again a free man. Every soldier on the ship who was even the slightest bit conscious knew what would happen to a devil fruit user if they landed in the ocean. They all retreated immediately to get their captain leaving the Merry Go as empty as it had been before.

Luffy who was finally not being chewed on walked over to Vivi, with sparkles in his eyes. "ne ne, Vivi I've got a great idea for Nami." Luffy said and nearly all on the ship groaned. Luffy's idea usually weren't ones you would call great, even Naruto had learned that in their short time together. "Why don't we throw a bucket of water over her, that should cool her down!" He said entirely serious but before he could continue he was hit over the head by Sanji and this time also Vivi who joined in. Luffy landed on the other side of the boat and was ignored.

"Ne Vivi-chan, the sun is setting for the day." Sanji noted. She nodded and thought for a bit, "I think it would be best if we laid anchor, it's too dangerous sailing at dark without Nami to navigate." Sanji nodded and told everyone to lay anchor for the night and to prepare for the night.

Later that night everyone was sleeping in the same room as Nami, almost all of them were worried. Nami woke up and none of them but one noticed.

Naruto opened an eye as he watched her try to sit with a lot of effort, she panted and reached for her forehead. She saw everyone in her room and smiled a bit of a sad smile. One that Naruto recognized. He stood up and walked in front of her, Nami was a bit surprised but too tired to show it. "Are you alright?" He wrote to her and she nodded, probably too tired to speak he thought briefly. "Don't worry about those idiots, right now they're more worried about you than to care about anything else. So if you want to do something for them, get better as fast as you can." He wrote with an odd conviction to the words. Nami smiled at him before falling asleep once more.

Next morning Sanji was on the lookout and Usopp was repairing the boat the best he could, Naruto was helping him and with the chains he had revealed it was going faster than they had anticipated. He could hold the wood in position while Usopp would secure them in place. Sanji was watching the chains from the corner of his eyes while Usopp was too busy with his work to actually notice. After a couple of minutes like this Sanji had finally reached the end of his patience and decided to ask. "Oi Naruto?" Naruto turned to him and the cook continued, "What are those things?" He said pointing to the chains. Naruto followed the direction his fingers were pointing in and saw he was talking about the chains. Not that he hadn't anticipated the question. "They're chains." He wrote in a matter of fact way, causing Sanji to sweat drop at the dry answer. "You know what I mean." he replied and Naruto snickered a bit in amusement. "They're chains made of energy, most of the techniques I use, are based on the manipulation of energy. Since I am a fox yokai the amount of energy I have is much higher compared to let's say that of humans, there are some exceptions though." He wrote before turning back to his work with Usopp. He made sure not to reveal too much information. As a fox he was much better at chakra manipulation while as a human he was good at it but excelled more at speed and physical maneuvers. Revealing a couple of things as a fox shouldn't be too much of a risk but he knew all of this was only temporary and he wasn't going to risk it.

Sanji seemed to understand this was all he would be sharing for now and returned to being on lookout duty. He kept his eyes on the horizon muttering on how cold it was until he realized something. "Hey guys, don't think it has been cold for a long time now?" He said finding it strangely odd, before this the grand line weather had changed constantly.

"Isn't it just another weird aspect of the grand line?" Usopp asked not really paying any attention. Naruto also thought about that when he realized what exactly that was supposed to mean, he was about to explain when Vivi came on the deck.

"No Usopp-san, when the weather stabilizes it means we're getting closer to an island, Sanji-san keep a close eye on the horizon for any islands!" She said happily while Sanji was agreeing with heart in his eyes. "There must be a winter island nearby." She said. When she saw Usopp and Sanji with question marks above their head she started to explain. "In terms of climate the islands of the grand line can be divided into four types; summer islands, spring islands, autumn islands and winter islands. And each of these islands generally have four seasons of their own. In other words, to be able to survive on the grand line you need to be able to survive all of these weathers from winter on winter islands to summer on summer islands." She explained.

Sanji who was now looking through a binocular decided to add his own two cents to the story. "So the reason the weather on the grand line is so unpredictable is due to the fact that it is trapped between all of these smaller islands each with their own weather pattern?" He stated and asked at the same time.

Vivi smiled and nodded, "That's right and that's why the weather stabilizes when we come close to an island." Sanji who was still looking through the binoculars nodded and smiled brightly. "That's great Vivi-chan cause there's an island straight up ahead." he said, "LAND AHOY!" Naruto to flinched at the loud noise, causing his ears to ring.

Not even seconds later Luffy had run onto the deck and claimed his position on the sheep head at the front of the boat. "Oooooh, an island. It's white, it must be snow, a snow island. I like snow!" He rambled on about the island. "Hey Luffy you know we can't go explore the island, we need to get Nami a doctor and when she is better we have to leave." Sanji said trying to get Luffy to act slightly more seriously but it all fell on deaf ears as Luffy kept mumbling about how he liked snow cause it was white.

"Wait a minute." Usopp suddenly said and Vivi, Naruto and Sanji turned to him, Luffy not noticing anything but the island. "What if it's a dangerous island? If there's snow shouldn't there be monsters?" He suddenly asked and everyone, well except for Naruto knew what was coming. Naruto watched with amusement as each member had their own reactions to the new island.

"Uuuughh my I-can't-enter-the-island-sickness is acting up again." The rest of the crew just ignored him and continued doing what they were doing while Naruto was on the ground laughing at their antics. He was so going to prank them sometimes, at least once before he left. "Get ready to dock everyone!" Sanji yelled.

Slowly they got closer to the island, it wasn't all that big but it was definitely an amazing island. There were multiple mountains on it but they weren't in any mountains you'd normally expect. Each and every one of them had the form of a round chimney, where the top was flat without a hole in it. At the bottom of every one of them was a small area that looked like the average mountain but it was so small compared to those chimneys that you barely noticed it. They were still big though, if you compared them to the rest of the island.

The rest of the island was entirely covered in white forests and snow; it was very cold but not cold enough to freeze all the water there. The rivers weren't frozen in its entirety and they had just passed a small waterfall.

"Luffy aren't you cold wearing only that?" Usopp asked as he jittered and shook from the cold. Naruto looked at Luffy and shivered slightly at what he was wearing. The rubber man was still only wearing his blue shorts with a red tank top like shirt with loose buttons! With slippers!

Luffy looked at himself and suddenly started to shiver, "brrrrrrr, yeah it's cold." He suddenly agreed. "COULD YOU BE ANY SLOWER!?" Sanji and Usopp yelled and Naruto was couldn't help but laugh enjoying the ridiculous situation. Usopp heard snickering from behind them and turned to face the fox. "Naruto aren't you cold, if I remember right foxes aren't all winter animals…" Usopp asked him.

Naruto thought about that for a bit, he didn't really know what kind of weather a nine-tailed fox was suited for. He wasn't cold so he assumed he was suited for cold climates. And if he was cold he could put up a fire on his tails to warm him up. "I don't really know Usopp but I do know I'm not cold at all." He wrote to answer him.

Usopp stared at him until he sighed deeply, "I'm jealous you know you're probably all warm and fuzzy." He said.

"A meltwater waterfall!" all of them heard Vivi say, they turned to her and she pointed towards the waterfall. "We should be able to dock our ship around here somewhere." She stated confidently, everyone nodded. "Soo who is going to go search for a doctor, actually we should start by seeing if there are any humans on the island." Zoro said, he had joined them on deck a few minutes ago.

"I'm going!" Luffy yelled right away, Sanji joining in to help 'his' Nami-chan. "I want to go too." Naruto wrote in the air. "Go forth my comrades." Usopp added melodramatically, implying he didn't want to go.

"STOP RIGHT THERE PIRATES!" They suddenly heard from the land.

They all saw the people of the island on the cliffs surrounding the river they were sailing. One man in the group moved to closer to the ship and in front of the crowd "You will turn around immediately and leave this island!" He said to them. Vivi panicked a bit and Luffy beat her to speaking "Wait, we've come here for a doctor." Luffy said while Vivi caught found her tongue again. "We've got a sick person on board." She half yelled at them making sure they heard but it all fell on deaf ears.

"YEAH RIGHT, THOSE LIES WON'T WORK ON US YOU PIRATE-SCUM." Several of the villagers yelled in tandem. "This is our island and we won't let no stinkin pirates run amok on it. Now pull your anchor up and beat, or we'll make you leave!"

"Talk about bad first impression." Sanji muttered while Zoro agreed with him for once. One of the civilians heard and shot Sanji in front of his legs as a warning, the cook Just barely dodging the bullet. "DON'T talk back to us, pirate!" He yelled. Sanji started to get angry and tried to charge, before he could Vivi managed to stop him, but Sanji had already intimidated the man. The man was now panicking and he shot once more, scratching Vivi on the shoulder.

"VIVI!" Luffy yelled in shock before preparing himself to attack. "HOW DARE YOU!" He yelled and everyone started to take positions to battle while the civilians charged their guns.

But before anything could escalate Vivi had once more stood up and grabbed Luffy around the middle stopping him where he was. "No wait! This isn't a problem that can be solved by fighting! You don't have to worry about me, the bullet only grazed the surface." She yelled at Luffy trying to calm him down. Luffy could see how determined she was and calmed down a bit. She let go and bowed to the group of civilians shocking everyone there. "I BEG OF YOU, WE WON'T SET A FOOT ON YOUR ISLAND. BUT PLEASE SEND US A DOCTOR! OUR FRIEND IS GRAVELY ILL AND IN MUCH PAIN!" She yelled desperately. "Vivi" Luffy said quietly but she continued to speak only this time to him and at a lower volume. "You're failing your duties as a captain like this Luffy-san. If we start fighting here what will become of Nami?" She said reprimanding him.

Luffy thought for a bit before joining her also bowing to the group. "Sorry, I was wrong. Pease send us a doctor." He said with his head still down.

The man who was still in front of the group civilians sighed a bit and conceded. "We'll lead you to our town, follow me." He said turning away. Vivi faced Luffy while they were still bowing, "see they understood!" She had a big grin on her face. "Yeah, You're amazing." Luffy said honestly agreeing and surprised at how easy that turned out to be.

'Amazing…' Naruto thought, she calmed an entire village down mostly on her own with some help from the captain. No wonder she's a princess, she has an aura. "But!" They all turned towards the man that seemed to be their leader as he stopped walking away. "I must warn you, we only have one doctor and she's a witch." He told them. A witch?

They all left the ship walking in the snow to the village. Zoro and Carue, who were apparently too cold, were left behind to take care of the ship. Zoro's legs tied to each other by Naruto's chakra chains in an attempt to prevent him from training. While Nami was being carried on Sanji's back held up by one of Zoro's swords.

Naruto was walking next to Vivi listening to Dalton, as the man had introduced himself earlier, explained a bit about the island.

Dalton had slicked back black hair and a goatee. He wore a long, white fur-lined green tunic and had armor plates on his arms. he wore long boots and carried an extra-large spade, probably as his weapon, in a sheath that hung on his back.

"This island has no name as of yet." He started. Vivi was surprised at that, "Can that even happen?" She asked Dalton-san but before he could answer them Usopp screamed.

"Aaaaaaah, a beaaaar. Everyone play dead!" He screamed and fell dead on the snow. Nobody paid him any attention as they continued walking. "It's just a hiking bear. It poses no danger but mind your hiking manner and make sure to bow." He explained to them as everyone but Usopp who was still playing dead in the snow bowed to the hiking bear as he passed. Naruto snickered at how embarrassed Usopp was as he stood up again to continue walking.

After walking for a while they finally reached a town at the foot of the mountain which was at the foot of the chimney mountain. "Oooh, there are lots of weird animals walking around!" Luffy yelled as Usopp agreed. In the village were various animals carrying luggage for people and those being ridden on. Naruto watched as they both seemed perplexed at all of the strange animals. 'That's how I seem to them isn't it?' Naruto thought sweat dropping at the thought. Sanji was trying to tell Nami on how they finally found a town to get her the help she needed.

"Good work everyone, those who aren't on guard duty should go home and relax." He said to the villagers. They all nodded but most of them still seemed worried. "Are you sure you're alright Dalton-san they are pirates!" One villager asked as the rest nodded in agreement. But Dalton just laughed and shook his head, "I'll be alright, my gut tells me they aren't going to cause trouble." The villagers still looked unsure but relented and moved back to their own houses.

Vivi looked around and noticed something, "They aren't professional soldiers are they?" She asked Dalton. He nodded and turned back to then, "Yes, they are just normal villagers, this country doesn't have any professional soldiers anymore." But before she could ask any more about that he told them to come to his house.

Naruto slowed down a bit until he was walking behind them to watch what Luffy and Usopp where up to. "Hey Luffy look it's a hiking bear." Usopp whispered to Luffy and he nodded too. Naruto looked to where Usopp had pointed and stifled another a laugh. It wasn't a hiking bear but just a very big woman. He started to roll on the ground laughing when Usopp and Luffy actually bowed to the woman when she walked past them. "Hey Dalton-san I heard there were pirates are you alright?" She asked them. "Yes I'm quite fine thank you." He told her politely with a smile as she walked past. They all continued to walk to his house every now and then being stopped by some of the villagers who started to talk to Dalton asking him advice or giving him compliments.

'He's really trusted here.' Naruto noticed as he watched the villagers who saw Dalton brighten up with a smile. He picked up his pace and walked next Vivi again. Usopp and Luffy were acting like the kids they weren't supposed to be and started to throw snowballs at each other.

After walking like this for a while they finally reached his house and he told them to put Nami in the bed he was pointing to. "You can put her there." He said as he put down some of the stuff he was carrying. They all sat down, Vivi and Sanji next to Nami on a chair while Naruto was sitting on the ground next to Vivi and Dalton.

"A fever of 42 degrees?!" Dalton said not believing what he was seeing. "If it gets any higher she'll most certainly die." He exclaimed. Vivi just nodded gravely, "Yes it's been on the rise constantly the last three days. That's why we need a doctor!" She said.

"It doesn't matter if this doctor is a witch, as long as she can cure Nami-san, so where is she?" Sanji said a bit rudely but understandably as they were all worried about Nami. Dalton nodded and sat down again to explain.

"You can see those mountains from the windows right?" Dalton said pointing absently to the windows. Sanji nodded "yeah you mean those extremely tall-..." But Sanji didn't quite continue. A snowman blocking the sight in front of the window. Sanji let out another groan as he had his suspicions on who made the snowman. They walked closer to the window and saw Luffy and Usopp in the garden with two huge snow sculpture, one giant snowman and another Godzilla like one. The Godzilla one was actually made really well.

"That's it, I'm going to kick your asses." Sanji said mad they were fooling around at a time like this but Naruto bit him lightly in the feet to stop him from moving. Sanji stopped and turned to him with disbelief, "why! Those guys are fool..." But he stopped when he read the message Naruto wrote in front of him, "open the window." Sanji wanted to ask why but opted for just doing what the message said and he opened the window. Naruto put his front paws on the railing and build up a bit of fox fire in his mouth shooting it towards the snow sculpture melting it almost instantly.

Luffy and Usopp were comically crying while Naruto moved away from the window telling Sanji that he could close it now.

Sanji obeyed but was laughing at the scene and Vivi was chuckling a bit too but the both of them quickly turned serious again. Dalton was watching with wide eyes as he just saw a fox do multiple things he didn't think was possible. "Whaa..." But he stopped and sighed, "I expect a small explanation about things later but for now the girl is more important." He turned back to the window and pointed at the now visible mountain. "Those mountains are called Drum Rockies, perhaps you can see the castle on top of the tallest one? Presently it's a castle with no king." He explained.

"Castle?" "King?" Usopp and Luffy said as they had entered the house no longer having their snow sculpture to play with. "Yeah I can see it." Sanji said, Vivi agreeing. "But what about it." She asked. Dalton looked at them seriously and answered. "Dr. Kureha. The lone doctor on this entire mountain and island, who is called a witch, lives on that very castle situated at the top of the mountain!"

It was quiet for a very long moment as the words registered in the minds of everyone in the room "Whaaaaa?" They all exclaimed while Naruto just looked perplexed as he couldn't talk. "Of all places, she just had to go and be there." Sanji said with a difficult expression. "Well we better go contact her right away."

"You can't, we have no way of contacting her." Dalton said surprising everyone once more. "Then what do the people do when they get sick?" Vivi asked with disbelief. "Well she comes down from the castle when she feels like it, treats patients and takes whatever interests her before leaving again." He told them.

"What?! and she calls herself a doctor, what is it with this woman?" Sanji exclaimed. Dalton turned to him, "her skills are undeniable, but she is a bit weird not to mention she's 140 years old." 'That's old' Naruto thought, the rest subconsciously agreeing.

"But how does such an old woman come down form the mountains?" Vivi asked still surprised at her age. "People say she rides down on a slay on a moonlit night, it's why they call her a witch. Others have reported a most bizarre creature with her." Dalton explained.

"Aaah, see I told you so. It's a snow monster. I just knew there had to be witches and yeti's lurking among the snow peaks." Usopp yelled crying on the ground muttering about not wanting to go. "In any case, I guess the only thing you can do is wait for her to come down and ask her for help." Dalton told them but Luffy was no longer listening as he moved over to Nami slapping her in the face.

"What the hell Luffy!" Everyone yelled at him, but he just ignored them and continued doing it until Nami woke up. "Wha..?" She asked until she saw Luffy. "Hey Nami, listen we can't get to the doctor on the mountain. So we'll be hiking up." He told her.

"!..." Everyone gasped at the idea. "Luffy you can't seriously consider doing that?!" Vivi told him. He just looked at her confused, "but I'll be carrying her!" They continued to bicker and fight until Naruto had had enough and wrote them another message.

"You don't know when that doctor is going to come down. The only solution is to go to her. We don't know if Nami is going to get worse or not but if she gets any worse than this, bringing her up will be impossible to do!" They acknowledged the pros and cons to both ideas, this might really be the only option.

Nami who was still barely conscious pulled the attention to her and turned to her captain. She raised her hand out of her bed, "I'll leave it to you captain!" She said. Luffy walked over and hit her hand turning it into a high five. "Leave it to me!" He told her smiling.

"Ok, I'm also going with you." Sanji said. Naruto wrote something down again and turned to Dalton who wasn't expecting it. "Do you have any sleds, something not too heavy that can be pulled?" He asked him. Dalton pulled his head together and nodded. "Yeah we have some but why? Horses can't reach there!" Naruto shook his head, "I can pull her until we reach the foot of the drum rocky and then Luffy can carry her while climbing up." Dalton who thought of the idea nodded and left the room to get what Naruto asked.

"You're going to go too Naruto-kun?" Vivi asked him and Naruto nodded. "But how are you going to climb up the mountain?" She asked him, but he just gave her a knowing smirk and followed after Dalton.

After everyone who was coming was done preparing they all gathered outside the house to leave. Nami was put on a sled that wasn't to big but enough for her to be warm. Naruto was strapped to the sled in front of it like a reindeer or horse to pull the cart. 'Why did I even offer to do this?' Naruto thought, slightly embarrassed by the situation. But when he saw Nami in pain his reluctance disappeared, 'what one does to protect friends.' Usopp who was serious for once turned to Luffy mostly but also a bit to Sanji.

"Drop her once and she might die, so make sure nothing gets past you guys. Naruto you can't fight or do anything physically because that might harm Nami, ok?" Luffy, Sanji and he all nodded showing them they understood and went to leave before Dalton stopped them once more. "I won't stop you but, I suggest you start on the other side of the mountain. On this side there is a giant pack of carnivorous rabbits; the Lapins." He explained to them.

"Rabbits? But we're in a hurry. Don't worry we'll make sure Nami stays safe." Luffy said before he sped off leaving Sanji, Nami and him behind. Sanji sighed, "come on let's go or he'll leave us behind." Sanji said to Naruto. He nodded and the both of them followed Luffy into the forest leading the mountain.

15


	12. The blue nosed doctor

**Chapter 12**

 **Hana no aoi isha to mura no mondai**

Dalton watched as Vivi and Usopp kept outside even after their nakama were no longer in sight. He opened the door to his house. "It's quite cold outside, why don't you two come inside?" He offered politely. But the both of them declined his offer preferring to stay outside. A smile marked his face when he realized just how worried they were about their friends. How they wanted to be even a little bit closer to them by staying outside.

Dalton closed the door to his house and sat down next to them, surprising them. He could see these pirates weren't like the ones he was used to. He kept quiet for a bit, pondering. After a minute or so he decided to explain everything to them.

"You know it wasn't always like this." He said gaining their attention before continuing "we weren't always without doctors on this island." Vivi turned to face the taller man, "what happened?" He sighed and started to elaborate, "only a few months ago this kingdom was utterly destroyed at the hands of pirates." He said his tone serious.

"Wha.." The girl said as she couldn't seem to find any words. "The entire country?" Usopp asked perplexed. Dalton just nodded, "So that's why you were so hostile to us..." The princess said as she finally found her tongue. "Yes everyone is still uneasy at merely hearing news about pirates." He explained. "It was a pirate crew of only five people. Their captain, he had called himself 'Blackbeard', had overwhelming strength, they destroyed our entire country in the blink of an eye."

Both of the kids gasped. "Only five pirates!? That's crazy." Vivi spluttered.

Dalton continued on with his story, "Be as it may there are people who say it was a good thing our kingdom was destroyed." But he could see both teens didn't quite agree with that sentiment. "How could it be a good thing an entire kingdom was destroyed?!" The blue haired girl yelled in frustration while her companion nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's ridiculous! How could that be a good thing." Dalton sighed, they didn't know just what had happened, so it wasn't their fault they didn't understand. "That's because up until that point, the king and his tyrannical rule brought much suffering to the people. The name of this kingdom was formerly known as "Drum Kingdom" and the ruler of this kingdom was a man named Wapol. He was truly a despicable king!"

"Wapol." Both kids repeated with disgust. He was surprised they knew him, "do you know him?" He asked them. And they both nodded but with irritation clearly showing on their faces. The long nosed teen was the first to continue the conversation. "Know him? We don't really know him. But he attacked our ship yesterday. But now that I think about he did say something about Drum Kingdom." He said. The girl added to it with her own memories. "Yes, I remember clearly now, he's the same man I met back when I was a little girl and father took me to the council of kings." She said.

Both things surprised him greatly. The fact that they saw him yesterday probably meant that Wapol was close by, the time he returned wasn't that far off. 'They couldn't afford for the man to return now' he thought frustrated.

What the girl said was also mystifying, she had been to the council of kings, who was she to be able to go there? But before he could ask Dalton noticed she had retreated back into her shell. It clearly wasn't something she wanted to say out loud. Politely he ignored her little addition to their discussion and didn't ask her to elaborate on it.

"Ah ummm, I-in any case we did meet Wapol." She stuttered a bit at first. "But what does this all mean. Why was the kingdom destroyed while the king is alive and as a pirate none the less?"

"Being a pirate is just a disguise. He's most likely been loitering around the oceans waiting for the time to return." He told them. If Wapol was really that close, they were going to need to prepare but they needed to know.

"So then... Wapol and his men were driven out of this island and forced to be pirates, after being unable to fight off the Blackbeard pirates?" She said trying to summarize. After hearing this his blood ran cold and he forced himself to calm down enough to talk. That man, honorable? "Unable to fight off?" Dalton let out a small dry chuckle, clenching his fists so hard until he could no longer feel his fingers. "Wrong! Back when the pirates attacked this kingdom the king and his soldiers didn't even try to mount a resistance." He managed to part with the information properly, even despite being so enraged.

"What?" The princess said not understanding or maybe not wanting to understand what he was trying to tell her. "Once Wapol realized just how strong the pirates were, he simply abandoned his own country. By immediately taking off to the seas faster than anyone else!" Dalton gritted through his teeth, he was having a hard time calming down until he heard Vivi scream.

"AND HE CALLS HIMSELF A KING?!" She yelled loudly. "That's beyond cruel... How could a king abandon his people?" Her statement lost its intensity as her confusion made its way through. Dalton could clearly see the turmoil going through at such a thought. Surprisingly he too had calmed down now and the blue haired girl had a new earned herself some respect from him.

"Exactly, but thanks to that Wapol's reign finally came to an end. This island now belongs to those of us who remained! The towns are beginning to recover and we're now in the midst of forging a new country. That is why the thing we dread most is the return of Wapol! At this time of great unrest and uneasiness, we must prevent that at all cost." His resolution at doing so seemed to touch both of the pirates and both the girl and the boy nodded in understanding.

Silence once more invaded their little space as they turned back to watch the mountains in the distance. Despite the tense discussion they had just had the mood wasn't governed by nerves or determination.

What seemed to take over their little space was worry. Worry for their friends and nakama. Vivi looked over to the mountains, "I wonder if they're alright." She said. She had been worried for a while now. She knew there was nothing they could do but that didn't make the waiting any easier.

"I just hope they don't come across any Lapins.." Dalton said as he too looked to the mountain. "You said they were carnivorous but still they're just rabbits right?" Usopp asked him. He nodded hesitantly, "yes... Agile as rabbits but with the body of a bear. And they hunt in pack as well." It was stated as if it was the most ordinary thing around. Though to this village it probably was. "Body of a bear!?" Usopp yelled, Vivi could see the color draining from of his face.

Vivi wondered if they were really that big, surely rabbits couldn't be that big and still be called rabbits she wondered. "Dalton!" They heard behind them and saw the woman similar to the hiking bear walk to them. Usopp bowed again while she was still wondering about the Lapins.

"You were looking for a doctor right?" She asked and Dalton tried to tell her they had already left but she continued "well good, because she just came down in the neighboring village. "WHAT!"

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"It's getting pretty cold with all this wind." Luffy said as they ran through the forest up the mountain. "That's because you're wearing slippers in this weather, why the hell are you wearing slippers in this weather?" Sanji asked the idiot running in slippers.

"That's my police." Luffy said grinning, Naruto snickered at the captain's statement and wrote him a message. "Luffy it's 'policy' not police", Luffy read it. "Oh I see, thanks Naruto!" He said as they kept on running.

"How are you holding up there Naruto?" Sanji yelled back to where he was running. Naruto was running a bit behind them to make sure Nami would be safe from anything dangers. But he had been keeping up with them easily, it was probably because of his training but he was sure any normal fox or even a wolf wouldn't have been able to carry Nami and the sled up the mountain. 'Well I'm not normal am I' Naruto thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine no problem here!" He wrote to them. "Ok that's good, you're in charge of Nami ok, so no fighting only dodging and running if we get into danger!" Sanji yelled, Naruto nodded as they continued to run through the snow.

"Anyway Sanji, did you know people in snow countries don't sleep." Luffy said to Sanji. Naruto signed as he listened to what the boy was saying now. Why the hell wouldn't people sleep here? but he was surprised him when Sanji reacted. "Ooh and why not?" He asked, the genuine interest he could hear made Naruto doubt the level of IQ on this crew. "Because they die if they sleep." The captain was probably feeling very smart.

Naruto heard a growl from the inside the forest and turned to see a small rabbit like creature growling at them viciously. "Then why did Dalton have a bed in his house?" Sanji asked not noticing the rabbit trying to attack them. Naruto was a bit relieved when it didn't attack him and Nami, maybe it's because he was an animal right now?

"Maybe it's for when he dies?" Luffy suggested seriously, "Really? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Sanji said finally starting to figure out just how ridiculous the story was. The both of them kept running as the little rabbit attacked them from the right. The both of them casually jumped over it and it rolled back into the forest.

"Well then, let me ask you this why do you think woman all have beautiful smooth skin in snow countries?" Sanji asked this time as they continued to dodge the vicious rabbit who didn't relent. Naruto who was running behind them just kept watching with interest as they told ridiculous stories while dodging a rabbit. Really he couldn't help it, the sight was just that ridiculous.

"Why's that?" Luffy asked. "Isn't it obvious! You know when it's cold you rub your skin together, well that's why having smooth white skin is the trademark of woman in snowy countries!" Sanji explained seriously, "Why white?" Luffy asked him. "Because the snow sinks into the skin." Sanji yelled while his body made these weird and slightly creepy movements.

"You're stupid aren't you…" Luffy told him, of course it resulted in him getting hit on the head by Sanji. "I don't wanna hear that from you!" Throughout all of this the little rabbit kept attacking them, picking up speed until their only movements were to dodge.

Naruto who finally became too curious not to ask chirped to the rabbit. "Hey why aren't you attacking me or the girl?" It stopped for a moment and kept pace with them without attacking for a change. "You are treading on our territory, but we battle honorably." He stated as a matter of fact. "It's not honorable to attack an injured woman." He continued before turning back to Luffy and Sanji once more. Naruto smiled at the rabbit, it nodded before turning back to attack the other two.

"What did it say?" Sanji asked Naruto while dodging once more. Naruto watched the rabbit for a bit until he replied to Sanji's question. "He said we're on his territory, but because it's not honorable to attack an injured woman he's only attacking you guys."

"Oooh, then it's oka.. NOT!" San said kicking the rabbit away. "Why the hell! Can't you see we're protecting Nami-swan~ and you're in the way!" The rabbit cowered away. The fact that it could even move showed Naruto that Sanji held back a lot on behalf of its honor.

Surprisingly the rabbit actually left after that last vicious attack.

Of course it had to return with back-up. Not even minutes later it returned with five other rabbits, only these were ten times bigger. More likened to the size of polar bears. "What the hell are they?!" Sanji yelled, "They're white and big so they've got to be polar bears!" Luffy said excitedly as they watched the rabbits.

The one at front of the group jumped up and attacked them without warning, Luffy and Sanji had to dodge while Naruto distanced himself from the fight to protect Nami. He figured if they didn't want to injure the woman they wouldn't do anything if he didn't interfere.

Sanji and Luffy were dodging and attacking multiple rabbit while they kept charging. "How can they jump so high? It's like they're gorilla's." Sanji said irritably, barely dodging one that tried to pound him from the left. "No Sanji, they're polar bears." Luffy protested not even out of breath despite the hefty exercise. "They're rabbits you idiot!" Sanji yelled back, Luffy just stared at him before answering. "But you just said they were gorilla's!" Sanji groaned in exasperation and decided it was best to ignore him. He continued to dodge.

'These must be the Lapins Dalton-san was talking about, I can see how they're dangerous.' Naruto thought as he watched. He couldn't continue on his path, the Lapins were blocking the path yet he couldn't leave Luffy and Sanji behind at the moment. "Luffy we have to hurry up and beat these guys, Naruto can't carry Nami up alone!" Sanji yelled dodging another paw that was trying to crush him. Naruto scowled, annoyed at being underestimated. 'to hell I can't, I bet I could make it there faster than any of ya.' That wasn't quite the point though. Even he knew it, no matter the speed with which one could reach their destination. If Nami couldn't handle the stress on her body during the journey it wouldn't matter. They had to get her up the mountain safe and sound. His methods would probably end up killing her in the process.

"Flanchet shoot!" Sanji yelled as he finally hit one of the Lapins in his stomach, it flew back into the forest, but stood back up almost immediately. "It's hard to get a good kick with this kind of ground." Grumbling about the annoying surroundings, the cook kept trying to power up his kicks. It didn't take very long though for the Lapins to notice just what the problem was exactly. Taking advantage of the weakness their opponent had shown they all started to jump the two at the same time.

Well obviously it didn't take very long for Sanji and Luffy to get fed up with the situation.

The both of them yelled for Naruto to continue their journey while they turned to run in a different direction. As the Lapins followed them into the forest Naruto took the chance to continue his journey to the foot of the mountain. He continued to run like this until Luffy and Sanji joined him again further up the hill. "How did it go?" He wrote to them. "Not good, those rabbits kept following us and we couldn't lose them, I bet we'll be seeing them soon." Sanji looked up ahead and groaned, "Yep, there they are!"

As Sanji said the Lapins where all standing there in front of them, in bigger numbers than before. But this time they just stood there not moving or attacking until one of them moved forward and started to talk, yowl…. Growl? To anyone but Naruto it probably sounded like a string or animal sounds patched together.

"We are sorry, but we cannot seem to get you of the mountain and protect our land by keeping our honor, so we will do what we must." The implications of their threat was obvious and it didn't take much longer than a few seconds for Naruto to start taking preventive actions. In a flurry of movement, he took the belts holding him strapped to the sled off. While he was busy doing so the Lapins started to jump up and down creating a lot of sounds and tremors. Slowly it was causing huge amounts of snow on the mountain to shift down. Almost as if it had been planned the snow came tumbling down the moment Naruto was freed from his restraints.

"Avalanche!" Sanji yelled and turned to Nami. Naruto was barely dragging Nami on his back as he tried to get a head start from the avalanche. Luffy and Sanji watched him run away but followed not even seconds after. Nobody had time to think of a better solution, they ran away with Nami was on Naruto's back.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Meanwhile Vivi, Usopp and Dalton had been to Cocoa Village only to find out Dr. Kureha was no longer there were now traveling to Gyasta. A troubling message had been received by Dalton.

Apparently Wapol had returned.

Without further ado Dalton had left them to return to his village, coincidentally the location Wapol had been sighted. Unable to abandon their mission, Vivi and Usopp continued onto Gyasta. It had been rumored that Dr. Kureha might visit the village next. What they hadn't noticed while on the sled though was that they had passed the sign that said 'to Gyasta'.

They were now heading in the wrong direction.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"There!" Luffy pointed to a small cliff to the side. Sanji, Naruto and Luffy all ran towards it with haste as the avalanche tried to beat them to the destination. Slowly but surely they got closer towards the ridge that would protect them from the mass of snow.

Naruto tried to keep Nami as steady as he could while running. At the last moment they finally managed to reach their goal, but the cliff turned out to be too small to evade the avalanche entirely. It ended up spilling over the edge engulfing them. Brief panic spread amongst them as they started to sink into the snow.

Surprisingly it was Luffy who figured out a solution. Stretching his arm, the captain grabbed onto one of the trees that was being washed away by the snow pulling the other two with him. They tried to balance them on top of the moving object as it slid down the avalanche.

Naruto was mostly busy keeping Nami on his back using his tails as support, the chakra chains wrapped around her also helped. Even with all the surrounding problems he was still determined to handle her as carefully as possible.

Everything went well during the time they had been sledding down the snow. After a while though the Lapins seemed to get the idea and ended up following them, snowboarding down the mountain after them.

How giant rabbits managed to snowboard he would never know.

The Lapins kept attacking them and they were only barely managing to get away each time. Naruto and Luffy were sitting behind Sanji on the tree when suddenly they saw a giant rock come into sight. They were on collision course with it but they couldn't change their course to dodge it. "Watch out!" Luffy yelled, Sanji turned to see what the problem was. They wouldn't be able to dodge it in time, so Sanji did what he thought was best.

He pushed Naruto and Luffy off the tree. "Luffy! Make sure to protect Nami-san, you too Naruto!" He yelled to them as he alone collided with the rock. The cook was thrown into the air before landing right onto the avalanche. Having no hold on the snow slowly surrounding him, he slowly started to disappear into it.

"SANJI!" Luffy yelled, because of the momentum Luffy and Naruto barely landed on the rock and managed to stay put. "YOU IDIOT! WHO TOLD YO TO DO THAT!" Luffy yelled, Naruto who was making sure Nami was alright saw Luffy try to grab Sanji. The captain shot out his hand and grabbed Sanji's but he didn't succeed and only managed to get one of his mittens in the process. They lost Sanji entirely under the snow and watched as the avalanche passed by them.

It was only after the avalanche stopped that Luffy could search for Sanji and luckily enough they managed to find him despite being buried in the snow. But he wasn't in a good shape. The cook had frostbite and because of the lost mitten one of his hands was slowly turning blue. He also had wounds from colliding with the rocks, but they didn't know quite how serious those wounds were exactly.

Despite his size Naruto was still too small to properly carry Nami with the stability she needed. Thus he had taken to protecting them as Luffy carried the both of them. On the way to the Drum Rocky they encountered the small rabbit trying to help a big one up that had gotten stuck in the avalanche. Without saying anything Luffy just helped up the big rabbit. One of the ones that was the cause of all their troubles. Naruto had expected this but it was still surprising to see someone so forgiving.

Now that he thought about it though, everyone on the Straw hats crew was like that. Individually, and together for that matter, they were weird but each and every one of them cared more for their friends than they did for themselves. Even when Nami is in so much pain she still doesn't want to be a burden on them. 'They're all too pure.' Naruto thought with a slight grin. He shook away the thoughts and concentrated on protecting them.

Sanji and Nami weren't the only ones in danger now, Luffy's body temperature had started to cool down and he was showing signs of frostbite. Naruto lit his tails with his foxfire and walked close to Luffy to warm him up. Luffy smiled at him. "Thanks Naruto, let's hurry up." He said. Naruto nodded and they picked up the pace.

"Wait mugiwara!" They heard behind them suddenly, they turned around and saw Wapol standing behind them with two other subordinates. "You've disrespected me too many times, little brat." He told them. Naruto just snorted while Luffy Ignored him and tried to walk past him. Wapol who being the brat he was didn't like to be ignored and was fuming. Naruto could mentally picture him stomping his feet on the ground like a child.

"Kill them all!" Wapol yelled at his subordinates. "Yes my lord." They replied at the same time. Naruto stopped running and positioned himself in between Luffy and the two attacking. "Naruto!" Luffy yelled stopping, Naruto glanced back and gave him a new message. "Don't stop, keep running and I'll catch up later!" Luffy nodded and left.

One of the king's subordinates sent an arrow flying towards him and Naruto dodged it accordingly. He noticed the tin man had disappeared and send out a chakra wave. Sensing him hiding in the snow he took the opportunity. He flung his chakra chains at them and started to pull him up from under the snow.

Meanwhile he had sent his foxfires out over the snow to be ready the moment they rose from it. Wapol, who had turned out to be riding a giant hippo like creature with fur, jumped off in fear and cowardice. It caused the fur of that poor hippo to catch flames. The animal, a White Walkie, ran off in panic and Wapol was, if possible, even more pissed off.

"What kind of a thing is that?" The king pointed at Naruto as he was rejoined by his two subordinates. "Chess I have a new law write it down! No weird creatures allowed on the island. Those who do will be punished by death!" He recited as chess actually wrote it down. "Now Kuromarimo, Chess, kill that abomination!" The two men started to approach Naruto and Nami and he was about to retaliate when something flew past him.

"Gaaaaargh." Both the lapin growled as they pushed Kuromarimo and Chess to ground. Naruto watched with surprise as the Lapins that had been attacking them earlier started to beat down their enemy. 'Was it helping me?' Naruto thought absently. He smelled the air and realized this Lapin had the same smell as the one Luffy had helped earlier, they were probably repaying someone who had helped them. As if confirming his idea, the Lapin turned to him with the small one sitting on its shoulders.

"Your friend has helped me and spared my child from a motherless life, now we shall help you. Go and heal that woman you are protecting." The mother said as she turned back to fight. Naruto turned away and ran "Thanks!" He yelled.

He sent out a chakra pulse and saw that Luffy had nearly reached the Drum Rocky. He tried to speed up but saw it wasn't going as well as he had hoped it would. He was getting a bit tired. His chakra control was slowly slipping away from him; he could feel that his feet weren't as stable on the snow as they had been before.

He had probably been taxing himself a bit too much when he'd carried Nami. He had to be very careful with he and the slightest spike in temperature could have a disastrous effect on her. Having a huge amount of chakra made sure he wasn't physically tired out easily but he was feeling taxed mentally.

He was tired. He wouldn't let it keep him though as he forced himself to go on.

Naruto ran as fast as he could and repeatedly made use of his chakra echo to make sure he was heading the right direction. The snow hindered him though and he wasn't as quick as usual. The trees weren't sturdy enough to jump on so running on the snow was the only way to go. After a couple of minutes, he finally reached Luffy who was standing on the foot of the Drum Rocky. He was about climb up when he noticed Naruto. "Hey Naruto, you done?" he asked. Naruto nodded and looked up, the mountain was ridiculously high, he couldn't see the top. "How are you going to climb that?" Naruto wrote.

Luffy smiled cheekily and showed his hands and feet, Naruto just shook his head in exasperation. He should know better by now than to ask the teen such questions. "With two people?" He asked. "Yeah" Luffy answered as he kicked of his slippers and started to climb, after a couple of steps he stopped "Hey Naruto how are you going to climb?" He asked and Naruto smirked before running up the vertical wall. He stood there on the wall vertically without falling and started to walk up. "If you need any help ask, as you can see it's easier for me." He told Luffy who again had sparkles in the eyes "Coooool!" He yelled before he continued to climb.

They climbed up and Luffy did surprisingly well as Naruto watched. But when they were halfway the mountain Luffy nearly dropped Sanji once. Luckily he managed to catch him before he fell out of reach with his mouth. Naruto had been shocked to notice he hadn't actually realized the captain had dropped Sanji. Luffy had already caught the cook by the time he'd been ready to help. He was relieved to see they were safe but he could see that Luffy was suffering. He was cold, his feet and hands were bleeding from the effort and he was carrying two people. For the first time Naruto felt guilty for not showing them who he was. As a human he could just carry them up the hill, but doing that would invite trouble for both sides.

Instead he did what he could and what he had to, he spread his chakra and started to warm Luffy, Nami and Sanji using his chakra. He concentrated on his feet to keep the flow steady and on Nami to make sure he didn't fluctuate the temperature.

Slowly but surely their pace picked up and Luffy could be faster despite his wounds. He still had minor case of frostbite but it was slowly receding. Naruto though was starting to have trouble, he was getting extremely tired from the multiple things he had to keep track of and because of that his chakra control was slipping. He kept putting in more effort continuing the cycle. He was developing a terrible headache and his limbs we getting extremely heavy. The dizziness also didn't exactly help when climbing a wall at a 90° angle.

When they had nearly reached the top, Luffy suddenly slipped. Naruto tried to reach for a grip but when he couldn't find any he started to fall down the mountain, he panicked a bit but send out his chakra chains as fast as he could and caught them.

'I really need to plan more when I do things.' he thought as the world around him started to twist in different directions. He pushed in a last bit of effort and pulled them back up, throwing them on the top of the mountain. Luffy together with Nami landed perfectly on the top of the mountain, Luffy making sure Nami didn't get any shock from the landing. While Sanji landed a bit more roughly but none the less safe.

Naruto sighed in relief we he realized they were safe, but that didn't last for very long. He felt almost too dizzy and everything was spinning now.

He was having a hard time holding on to the chakra in his feet until it slipped. He could feel the air shift through his fur but everything went dark and he was too tired to think. The last thing he thought he heard was, "Gomu Gomu no..." As he slowly slid into darkness.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Naruto had an enormous chakra reserve, which to him was pretty much common knowledge. He assumed it came from his mother's side, he hadn't really any full humans who had quite as much as he did.

The origin didn't really matter much though. What mattered to him were the different ways he could make use of it. More chakra meant that using techniques which used a lot of chakra wouldn't tire him very much. Having enormous amounts of chakra meant that he wouldn't be limited in the amount of techniques he could learn. Well besides the time in which they needed to be learned.

But this trait also had a few disadvantages as well. One of them was that Naruto in particular hadn't grown up in the elemental nations. His knowledge on chakra techniques was scratchy at best. He only had access to a few of the chakra exercises he'd found in Ohara, his memories from the Elemental Nations and his own experiments.

What he'd figured out over time was that he wasn't exactly suited for precise chakra work. His reserves were just too big and they were constantly increasing in size little by little. As such his chakra control had to be exercised regularly to keep up. This in itself took a toll on his mental capacity.

The burden chakra control had on the mind by itself isn't supposed to be very high, but when the upper limit is constantly increasing it was a different matter entirely. Naruto likened it to chasing a goal that was always within sight but never quite reached. He was almost certain though that his mother couldn't have lived her entire life with such a fatal problem as a shinobi. Really she must have solved the problem at some time, and he would figure it out eventually.

When he had been carrying Nami on his back he'd been pushing his capabilities to the limit. It wasn't anything alike to fighting, where he only had to concentrate in brief moments. No, this was a continuous burden on his mind and as one can see.

It took a toll on him.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Vivi and Usopp who had managed to mostly escape the avalanche by taking the wrong turn, only losing their sledge. They had found Zoro in the snow on their way back to the village. Without their sled they couldn't quite reach the other village and had this decided to head back for now.

"Swimming in the winter?!" Usopp yelled with disbelief as Zoro walked next to them half naked and jittering from the cold. "Yeah, well after the stupid fox tied my legs I couldn't do any training, so I decided some swimming would go well cause you can do that without your legs. But I lost my way and then I found some fish and I thought maybe he could lead me back but I lost it and then I decided to walk into the forest."

Usopp just sweat dropped and Vivi joined him. "You're so stupid." Usopp stated. Zoro just muttered something under his breath and continued jittering, "so can I borrow some clothing?" "No, it's your own fault for doing something so stupid." Usopp answered without remorse.

"Look!" Vivi pointed towards the village. All of the villagers had gathered together with shovels in their hands. The houses were all buried under the avalanche yet villagers seemed to be preoccupied with something else entirely.

Zoro and Usopp looked around as they all walked to the village. "What's going on?" Zoro asked one of the men there. "What's going on? That should be my question. Why aren't you wearing any clothes?!" The man yelled. But another villager took the question a little more seriously and explained. "Dalton is buried under the snow after battling with Wapol, but those people are preventing us from helping him." He said pointing to a group of soldier blocking the way.

"What! Dalton-san is buried?!" Vivi and Usopp yelled while Zoro had no idea about what was happening or who Dalton was.

"Just get out of here, Dalton is dead." The soldiers said blocking everyone that wanted to help. Zoro who recognized them tried confirm his idea on whether they were enemy by asking Usopp. The liar didn't hesitate a moment before answering. "Yeah they are but why?" But before he got an answer Zoro smirked and was already charging. "If anyone has a problem, just come and take a piece of us if you dare. HAHAHAA!" The soldier yelled at the crowd. But before he could continue to laugh Zoro had hit him in the face and within seconds he was wearing the soldiers coat and mittens. "Hahaha, this is so warm!" He said happily. "You just wanted clothes?" Usopp said not believing he'd just charged an army for clothes.

The rest of the army who had been too surprised to react were now fuming at the act and charged towards him. Zoro dodged all the attacks the army threw at him one by one and on the way grabbed three swords. As soon as he had all three collected he put one in his mouth and cut down everyone on the way leaving an entire army crushed. Because the swords were no good he threw them away and walked back to where Vivi and Usopp were.

All the civilians who had been gaping at what Zoro could do were now charging to their surroundings and digging to find Dalton. Vivi and Usopp joining them.

"So Wapol is back?" They asked the civilians.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Doctorine, the anti-bodies are working." "Yes."

Naruto barely heard, he felt tired and he had no idea where he was. The last he remembered was falling down the side of a mountain, no wait! He could remember hearing Luffy as the captain tried to catch. Well at least it seems as if he isn't dead, he can still feel his body.

"Can you tell me what caused this?"

One of the voices asked. The voice sounded old and had that scratchy quality that told someone the person was a smoker. It was coming from the other side of the room. Naruto carefully opened his eyes, he didn't know where he was, no need to alert them of his awakening just yet.

"Kestia." He heard a squeaky voice say, the person sounded calm, as if he or she knew what they were doing. "That's right, you saw it too." The older voice said.

'They're talking about Nami's illness.' Naruto concluded as he looked around the room. The voices hadn't come from the same room they resided in. The room they were in was connected to the one from which he'd heard the voices by a door that was half closed. Their room was quite creepy, there were all kinds of kettles, teapots and weird arm like machinery spread around it.

If he hadn't already realized that the two people in the other room were doctors he might have thought a mad scientist was living here. It certainly had the looks and smells for it. Well that and the fact that there were enough medical books lying around to fill a library.

Naruto was lying on a cushion that was very soft and comfortable. 'Where are Luffy, Nami and Sanji?' He thought as he looked around the room more.

Next to him he could see Nami lying in a bed, she looked a lot better. The color in her face had returned and she seemed to be panting less heavily. Naruto sighed in relief, he got up and moved to her bedside before holding up one of his tails to her forehead.

'Still a bit hot but her temperature had gone down a lot.' He wanted to look around more but he was tired so he turned back to the cushion he was laying on, sat down and continued to look around.

After a few minutes of looking around he no longer heard the two voices. His sensitive ears could pick up activity in the other room but the busy shuffling and murmurs from minutes ago had receded. Curious about the reason for this mysterious change he stood up and walked to the door slowly. Peaking behind it he saw a reindeer on two legs?

He shook his head and looked again, yeah standing in the room mixing medicine was a reindeer standing on his two hind legs. Well really he or she didn't look much like a reindeer really. They were more like a … more like teddy bear really...

'It's like how people make teddy bears all fluffy and round with big eyes.' Naruto thought absently. Well the other was just a kid really, usually they were pretty cute anyway.

The reindeer was wearing a pink gentleman hat with a white cross on the front of it, his antlers were sticking out on the sides through holes in the hat. Other than the hat he was also wearing some purplish brown pants.

Naruto kept watching as the kid prepared some medicine, well until he saw the other figure in the room staring at him.

It was an old woman wearing very hip clothing, or at least what she probably thought was hip. She was wearing tight purple pants that had pink stripes and fades on the left leg. She was wearing a matching purple jacket that had a yellow stripe that went from the top of one arm to the other passing the shoulder. Under the jacket she was wearing a white T-shirt that left her stomach exposed, it had a green stripe on the edges of the t-shirt with big Sakura blossom leave forming one Sakura flower in the middle. She looked really healthy, Naruto had guessed this was probably the witch. 'She sure doesn't look a 140 though.'

"Woke up huh?" The old woman said smirking at him, he nodded keeping an eyes on everyone in the room as he did so. Just because they presumably helped Nami didn't mean he trusted them.

But apparently he wasn't the only one to think so.

The reindeer who had finally noticed him was startled by the woman announcing his presence in the room. The kid was at that moment in the process of throwing himself into the cupboard. Evidently it wasn't as simple a task as one would think, the reindeer had already stumbled over several books and a couple of flasks. It was a miracle he hadn't yet broken anything of worth.

Really, all Naruto could do was sigh and turn to the old lady with disbelief. The older woman though surprised only allowed herself to raise a single eyebrow.

"Hoooh, smart fox aren't ya?" She noted, sipping on her wine. Naruto raised an eyebrow and motioned to the reindeer. She seemed to get what he meant and laughed. "That's Chopper, he's a bit of a coward so don't mind him." She said.

Naruto shook his head a little in exasperation before going back to watch the reindeer stumble into even more stuff, ultimately ruining the medicine he had just made. Really it was almost saddening to watch.

After a few minutes the fox couldn't take it any longer. Really this kid needed to grow a backbone of he'd do it for him. Naruto walked towards him and of course! Chopper started to panic even more. Because he'd tried to hide in the cupboard he'd blocked out any routes to escape. Naruto really didn't need to hurry. Honestly? He took way longer walking towards the kid than he needed to.

By the time he reached the other Chopper had actually started to calm down slightly. Or at the very least entered a more controlled state of panic. He was showing more signs of fright and reluctance rather than a full blown out panic attack.

While all of that was exactly what Naruto had been going for his expectations were broken by the little reindeer in front of his. Never in his life would he have ever suspected for such a situation to happen.

Really.

Who hid behind something the wrong way around!? Only his head was hiding behind the cupboard while his body was out in the open. Chopper was shivering in fright and his eyes were dilated with suspicion. Yet despite the seriousness of the situation Naruto just couldn't quite keep up with the mood.

He couldn't help his own snigger and barked at the little reindeer, hoping he'd understand the speech. "You know you're hiding the wrong way around?"

Chopper flinched harshly and slowly moved his body into the right way to hide. Naruto's snigger only grew with the moment. 'This kid's just too cute! A bit irritating too but interesting enough. It's a bit late to turn around now though…' Naruto thought as he continued to watch him silently.

It took a few more minutes but eventually the little guy couldn't take the tension any longer.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Chopper asked timidly.

Naruto snickered a bit and gave him a foxy smile. "You want me to do something? Like what?" He chirped humorously. Seeing the perfect chance to reassure the other a bit he sat down on his hind legs and took on a mock thinking pose. "Hmm…" He added some exaggerating movements, "Oh! I know. I'll introduce myself!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto."

Chopper seemed to calm down a bit at that, well at least enough for him to move away from the cupboard and stand next to the older woman.

"Ne, how do you talk like a human?" Naruto asked Chopper after a few more minutes. The reindeer had been talking to him but not in animal speech as he would call it. He was actually speaking human words. 'If you could speak human with only 'knowledge' then I should have already been able to.' Naruto thought, he couldn't speak in his fox form and that was very annoying.

It had been a lot easier to bear with lately though, especially now that he could write fluently. Chopper hesitated a bit but the older woman didn't seem to share the other's nerves or angst.

"He ate the Hito Hito no mi, making him more like a human." 'Of course' Naruto thought a bit disappointed with the obvious answer.

In an attempt to change the subject Naruto glanced back to the room Nami was in, hoping the older woman would pick up on his hint and she did. "Ooh the girl? She's fine now, any later though and all of you guys would have had problems. What were ya thinking climbing the mountain?"

Her voice didn't have a single sign of worry in it.

Even now she was still laughing in amusement at the situation. 'I don't think she got the nickname 'witch' from her travel method.' He thought as he listened her laughing despite the fact that everyone was seriously hurt. Still though he nodded and sighed in relief. He watched Chopper leave to check on Nami while Naruto stayed with the older lady.

"Where are the other two?" He wrote in front of her. She was surprised, Naruto could see it on her face. Though anyone not used to paying attention to their surroundings probably wouldn't have noticed.

"Well, well, that's quite the trick..." but Naruto just ignored the remark. She just smirked at his defiance and took another gulp of wine before answering the question.

"Yeah the one with the Strawhat fell asleep as soon as each one of you was helped by us. The one with the curly eyebrows had a few broken ribs and a bit of frost bite like the Strawhat kid but both of them were fine. The girl though, she was more serious, she had a very dangerous illness. But what I don't understand is that none of them had any signs of the frostbite they were supposed to have with the distance you all must have walked and climbed. Also the fact that you were so exhausted while the rest wasn't..." She tried to hint at her suspicions as she looked him in the eyes.

Naruto recognized her prying for what it was but he refused to give out information to a stranger. Thus he did the next best thing and just shrugged. 'She's quite sharp for her age.' He thought before trying to walked away to check on Nami.

Keyword; trying.

He hadn't even moved a meter before he could feel a horrible presence from beside him. His fur rose with his agitation and before he could even consciously decide on an action he jumped to the corner of the room baring his teeth. A low intimidating growl was directed at the old woman standing there with knives in her hands. One of them embedded in the wall only centimeters next to him.

"I'm still in my young, hip 130s! You better remember that little fox." The smile on her face was frightening on its own. Naruto was, for some strange reason, reminded of Robin when he'd asked her something stupid. Like that time he'd … ok no. He wasn't going through that again, even if it was just a memory now.

Surprisingly though the older woman's presence was even more frightening than her face. Rather than feeling his usual confidence at being able overcome any challenge, all he felt was the threat of something dangerous approaching. Yet he couldn't quite place the threat.

His reaction seemed to satisfy the doctor as they pulled away he knives and took another swig from her bottle of wine. She threw herself into the same chair as before and proceeded to ignore his existence entirely.

Naruto just took the clue for what it was and tried to calm his nerves as he walked away. Really, just who the heck was that woman?!

After a few more, deliberately slow, moments he heard Chopper yell in panic again. 'Nami probably woke up.' He thought with a sweat drop at the reindeer's actions.

Naruto trotted at a quick pace into the room and saw that Nami was indeed awake and sitting on her bed "Naruto!" She said happily when she saw him. He walked towards her with a slight smile on his snout.

"How are you feeling?" He wrote which just freaked out Chopper more. He snickered a bit at the reindeer that was breathing heavily and practically plastered to the bookcase. Wasn't Nami supposed to be the sick one, If the kid kept this up he might actually end up making himself sick with worry. Naruto kept his concentration on Nami though.

"I feel a lot better thanks. But how did I get here?" She asked. Naruto told her about Sanji, Luffy and him having climbed the mountain they mentioned before. She could only vaguely remember but thanked him anyway.

Suddenly a hand made its way past him and a finger landed on Nami forehead, "38.2 Degrees Celsius. You're getting better girl!" She said and Naruto was slightly relieved at the information. "Who are you?" Nami asked a bit dazed despite getting better. 'Probably still tired.' He thought, even Naruto was still a bit tired and he had only collapsed of exhaustion but Nami was probably still very tired from everything.

"I am Dr. Kureha, but you can call me Doctorine." Doctorine told her. Nami who vaguely remembered some of the discussion at Dalton's house finally realized where they were. "So this must..." But before she could continue Doctorine cut her off.

"You want to know the secret of my youth?" She said out of nowhere. Nami actually just calmly denied her not even looking her way.

Naruto could only stare at the older woman, for making such a strange statement, and at Nami with disbelief.

'Guess you get used to things like that in their pirate crew' Naruto thought as he watched Nami casually ignore the remark. "So where are the other two guys" Nami asked worried about Luffy and Sanji. The doctor just grabbed her bottle of alcohol and drank a bit before answering. "Those other two are sleeping in the other room, but they're snoring too much haven't they learned any manners?" She said a bit annoyed, but the remark just caused Nami to smile in relief.

Doctorine noticed it but just sat down next to her and lifted her t-shirt up so you could see her belly. "This was the problem." Doctorine started to explain pointing to a specific patch of skin on her body, it had darkened to a creepy purple and looked as if it had been poisoned.

"You were bitten by an insect called Kestia, it lives in tropical forests. When it bites someone the bacteria will spread around the body. For the next five days the person will have a high fever. The brain, the heart, everything will be effected. Based on the marks I'd guess this will probably be the third day after you were bitten. If you had left it as it was you would definitely have been relieved in five days." She explained.

Nami sighed with relief, probably thinking everything would have been fine after all, even if they hadn't found a doctor but Doctorine continued her story after a brief pause.

"Because in another two days you would have definitely been dead." She said, shocking Nami and Naruto. "It's also known as the five days' sickness, but it's been instinct for a hundred years. You're lucky I still had the antidote. Where did you come from anyway, were you walking around half naked in an ancient forest or something?" Doctorine asked her sarcastically.

"Ahh!" Nami said remembering their time in little garden. "You remember something? well that's boring…" the doctor said actually disappointed. She pushed Nami back down onto the bed and told her to rest. Nami tried to sit back up almost immediately.

"Thank you but I'll be fine now right and we're in a hurry." Nami tried to explain but Naruto could see Doctorine would 't have any of it. She grabbed a scalpel and pushed the teen back on to the bed. "Are you kidding me this disease takes ten days to recover from and the only time I will let the patient go is when they have either recovered or died." She said in a no nonsense voice holding the small incision knife by her neck.

Naruto was prepared to interfere but he recognized what the older woman was trying to do. he agreed with her about Nami resting put in his own two cents. "Nami you know none of us will leave until you're fully healed." The navigator glared at both the fox and the doctor before sighing deeply. Finally, she leant back into the bed muttering about annoying foxes and doctors causing Doctorine and Naruto to chuckle a bit.

Not a moment later Chopper came running back into the room after he had mysteriously left before without anyone noticing. Pff mysteriously… the reindeer had actually managed to stumble his way out of the room after Doctorine pulled their attention towards them. The little wasn't exactly silent, Naruto was pretty sure even Nami had heard him.

This time though the kid he had two things hanging of his arms "Stop moving meat!" Luffy yelled as one of those two things in particular. "Where are you going little reindeer, I bet your meat is very tender. Wait Luffy don't bite him! I have to cook him first." Sanji added as the other significant part of the baggage. Chopper was, once again, panicking and running around the room trying to shake them off.

"Who and what is that?" Nami asked careful about the wording. Naruto gave her an appreciative glance before answering her question.

"That's the reindeer Chopper, a blue nosed reindeer who ate the Hito Hito no mi." Naruto relayed all the information Dr. Kureha had given him before. Nami just nodded and continued to watch as Chopper suddenly grew to yeti format and punched both Luffy and Sanji into the ground before turning back and running out of the room. All this while he was yelling in panic.

Doctorine just nodded and added a bit more information. "Yeah and I taught him my entire medical knowledge."


	13. A Fake king and a surprising move

**Chapter 13**

 **Nisemono no ō to odorokaseru waza.**

"Pease come with us, bāchan!" Luffy said trying to convince Doctorine to come with them. The teen hadn't been making much progress on that front but didn't quite give up easily. Considering he'd been trying for several hours now, well maybe a bit more than that.

"Your name is Luffy, right?" The older woman smiled widely, a dangerous aura starting to surround her. "Yeah!" Luffy nodded cheerfully not quite noticing the impending danger. Really whether his dense nature was advantage or disadvantage…

"You'd better watch you language, I'm only in my hundred and thirties!" Kicking Luffy in the face sending the teen flying across the room. "Whoa that's one strong old woman." Sanji muttered impressed. Exceptions just weren't made though when it came to mentioning her age. She kicked him just as hard and Sanji joined Luffy on the other side of the room. Naruto smirked slightly 'Well a typical case of never asking for a woman's age, or in this case mentioning it.' Luffy who recovered right away stood up again and asked once again.

"You want me to become a pirate?! Ridiculous!" Dr. Kureha exclaimed, "besides I have no time nor interest in such a thing." She continued, sipping on the bottle of wine in her hand. "It's okay if you don't have an interest just come with us." Luffy retorted with his usual logic, could it even be called logic?

"They're pirates?" Naruto heard Chopper mutter, who had come back to the room again. Of course the reindeer was hiding the wrong way around again, barely behind the doorpost. Naruto who had been sitting next to Nami's bed and was listening to Luffy argue with Doctorine stood up. "Naruto?" Nami asked curiously as she saw him walk away. "I'm going to talk with the reindeer." He left her, though he could see the smile Nami left him. 'Probably thinking he was making more friends or something.'

He walked to the reindeer who wasn't paying any attention to him and sat down next to him. "You know you're hiding the wrong way again." He yipped making the reindeer jump in surprise. The fox noticed the reaction was slightly less extreme than it had been, just barely though. He just sat there patiently waiting for the hooded reindeer to finish his panicking routine.

After a few minutes he finally calmed down and turned around very slowly to hide properly. Naruto saw that nobody but Nami had noticed Chopper panic, or hide the wrong way around for that matter. "Wow, even though you hid wrong, they still didn't see you." Naruto couldn't quite keep the sarcasm and awe out of his voice but apparently Chopper didn't seem to notice. Actually it seemed his fellow animal was a bit dense concerning anything to do with sarcasm.

Chopper became red in the dace and started to squirm in an oddly flattered matter. "NO!" He yelled in angrily before continuing in a happy voice, "Saying that doesn't make me happy~ you idiot~!" The kid couldn't quite seem to settle for either being happy or angry.

'Guess he doesn't quite know how to express his feelings huh.' Naruto thought as he watched the little guy. 'It wasn't even a compliment. Really somehow I think this guy would totally fit in this crew..' He couldn't quite prevent that last thought from slipping through.

In the distance he could hear Nami mutter something about animals and embarrassment. Naruto scowled when he heard that but Nami just smirked slightly.

This time though Chopper's movements and noises hadn't gone quite as unnoticed as before. Luffy and Sanji turned to face their direction and obviously noticed Naruto wasn't alone. Luffy was obviously interested in seeing the talking reindeer again. Sanji too had this oddly intense look in his eyes as his eyes roamed the reindeer's body. 'Wow, I am not repeating that sentence ever again.' His face scrunched up in disgust as he turned away from the scene. There really wasn't much he could do to stop his captain after all.

"Hey reindeer, give up and let us eat you!" They yelled once more chasing him out of the room leaving Naruto there. But this time Doctorine had had enough of the two idiots and started to chase them, "Maybe I will cook you two up before you can eat my reindeer!" She yelled at them grabbing her knives and chasing them. Sanji and Luffy started to yell loudly as soon as they noticed before running for their lives. They pretty much missed Chopper who had ran the other way.

Sighing Naruto stood up again and took his place next to Nami. "Sorry for the idiots." Nami said feeling sorry for the fox. He just sighed a bit and nodded, 'And I hadn't even asked what I wanted to.' They both felt a breeze and noticed snow being blown into the castle, but before either of them could move to close the door it was closed by Chopper who had managed to return safely.

"You have to stay in bed." Chopper muttered to Nami not quite looking her in the face. "If you need anything you need to ask us or your friend." He said pointing to Naruto. Nami smiled at Chopper, "Don't worry my fever is almost gone." She said trying to make relieve some of his worries. Chopper just shook his head though, "No, Doctorine's medicine is very strong so the fever is almost gone but it can still come back, besides you still need another injection and a lot of rest before you're better."

Nami smiled at the teen and thanked him causing him to blush and squirm again. This time though at an actual compliment. "You really don't know how to hide your feelings do you?" Nami muttered amusedly under her breath while Naruto had to agree as they watched the reindeer blush new colors of red under his fur. Nami who suddenly had an idea smirked and turned to Naruto, who couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this.

"He looks a bit like you when you were embarrassed at little garden, I wonder if all strange animals are like that." She said smirking as she watched how Naruto's face too gained quite a bit of color before the fox in question turned his head away in defiance. Naruto just grumbled under his breath about "money hungry girls" and "sadistic females" as he turned away. It only sounded like yips and barks to Nami though as she laughed thoroughly amused. Neither of them had noticed how Chopper was now watching the exchange with wide eyes.

After a minute or so Naruto had turned back to his usual healthy color and was glaring a bit at Nami when suddenly Nami was poked on the covers where her legs lay. Chopper was poking her carefully with a cautious but curious expression. Almost as if she were some kind of unknown species he had just discovered, "Are you pirates?" He asked carefully.

'Are we some kind of a new species to him?' Naruto thought amusedly as he watched Chopper poke Nami. "Yeah." Nami answered.

"Do you have a pirate flag?" He continued asking.

"Yeah we have one, but it's on our boat." She told him. All of a sudden she smiled widely with that dangerous spark in her eyes. "Do you wanna be a pirate?" She asked. The teen in question just stood there shocked for about a second before flying back into cupboard with a forced that surprised everyone. Chopper's chest rose rapidly as he breathed heavily in shock.

"NO WAY, WHO TOLD YOU THAT, YOU IDIOT!" He yelled entirely distressed while Naruto was covering his sensitive ears in aggravation and Nami was rubbing her head. Chopper seemed to realize the trouble he was causing and quieted down though he was still breathing heavily and clutching the cupboard tightly. After Nami had finally managed to clear the dizziness smiled again and turned to the panicked reindeer "Do you wanna come with us?" She continued undeterred.

"Just come and join us, if you're interested. It's good and if you're there with us I don't have to stay here. Also we don't have a doctor yet so it'd really help us out." She explained and before Chopper could react Naruto added his own two cents. "And you'd get to go out on adventures and above all learn new things about the medical world." He figured that Chopper would probably want to learn new things as a doctor if he could. Chopper seemed to consider it for a short moment before he realized what he was actually considering.

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS, I'M A REINDEER HOW CAN I BE WITH HUMAN!" He yelled frustrated. "But I'm a fox and I'm a pirate." Naruto pointed out calmly. "You're a pirate?" Chopper asked slightly amazed and Naruto just nodded. "But aren't you guys scared of me? I'm a reindeer and I stand on two legs. I even have a blue nose!" Chopper said in a more subdued voice.

"And?" Naruto asked "I'm a demon fox! I have three tails, can burn anything I want and can do lots of other stuff, are you afraid of me?" He asked in return. Chopper was a bit shocked but shook his head rapidly. "No! You seem really nice but.." But he couldn't finish his sentence because Sanji and Luffy ran back into the room and started to chase the reindeer again leaving him to panic and scramble out of the room.

Soon after Doctorine entered the room again panting and sat down on her chair. "I can't believe those kids, I chased them all of the castle with weapons and they still chase the reindeer." She said sighing. "But girl I'm not impressed, trying to steal my reindeer when I'm not looking." She said to her though really she was looking at them both. Nami just smiled widely and replied in a playful manner. "Ooh? do I need permission to hit on a guy?" She said, causing both Doctorine and Naruto to laugh. 'What a way to put it.'

"No take him if you want!" The older woman said still laughing. "But it's not gonna be easy, he's got a wound doctors can't heal!" She said while pointing to the heart.

"When he was born he was rejected by his parents." Doctorine said shocking Nami, though Naruto had already suspected it. He could sense the similarities between them. He may not had had any parents, it was similar to what happened to him. "Because of his blue nose, he was left to walk alone at the back of his pack." The older woman explained. Nami curled her hands into fists out of frustration. "That's cruel."

"One day he accidentally ate the human fruit and changed even more. He was fully rejected by his pack and kicked out. Chopper who was lonely and needed friend turned to his human form but even that wasn't quite complete, he was still furry and still had a blue nose. The humans shot him and chased him away leaving him alone. He didn't understand and didn't know who to blame. He just didn't want to be alone. He's neither human nor reindeer. Can you heal his heart?" She asked them. Nami seemed a bit unsure when she heard that and didn't quite answer the doctor.

Naruto stood up and walked towards door but he stopped just before he left the room. He turned his head back to the other two members of the room. He noticed Nami was still in a state of turmoil before sighing slightly.

"He just needs to find friends and if there's anyone who can help him with that it's this crew." He wrote before leaving the room. He didn't notice the happy smile Nami wore on her face or the thoughtful look Doctorine shot his leaving silhouette.

Naruto walked down the stairs that were wrapped around the pillar in the middle of the frozen castle. After having made a few rounds down he could finally see the bottom floor of the castle. The place looked similar to some kind of courtyard, except everything was frozen and not a thing grew up here.

'Why is everything frozen?' he thought briefly as he slowly walked across the staircase to get a better look.

"Look at that door Luffy! Someone must have left it open!" He heard someone say, Naruto looked down the stairs he was on and saw Luffy and Sanji standing in front of the huge open door that seemed to be the entrance to the castle. 'So that's why it's freezing and snowing inside the castle!'

He watched as they moved to close the door only for Naruto to almost jump out of his skin when he heard someone next to him yell. "STOP DON'T TOUCH THAT DOOR!" Naruto looked down in surprise to see Chopper standing next to him with a stern expression on his face.

Both Sanji and Luffy stopped briefly in surprise. When they didn't hear anything else though they just ignored it and continued to move towards the door. Chopper who suddenly seemed to have a specific goal moved forward until he was leaning against the railing of the staircase.

Smoothly he turned into his yeti like form. "I SAID STOP, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" He yelled breaking the railing on the stairs and throwing them near Luffy. "What's wrong with him?" Luffy said dodging the railing, surprised. That is until Sanji called him to come.

"Look." The cook said with a cigarette in his mouth, pointing to the top of the door. Naruto followed the movement of his hand to see why Chopper didn't want the door closed.

"There's a nest of snowbirds on the door, if we close it they'll die." Sanji explained while Chopper left walking up the stairs slowly.

Naruto stayed to watch his crewmates for a bit longer, "That's why we can't close it." Luffy said before some realization seemed to dawn upon his. "Wait a minute did that reindeer just speak?!" He asked. Sanji nodded, "Yeah and he was standing on two feet!" For a moment they stared at one another in surprise.

"MONSTER!" They both yelled. "That's so weird, he's a reindeer but can stand on two feet and change into a monster." Luffy added in a loud voice while Sanji nodded beside him. "Yeah, it's a monster!" Naruto just shook his head as he watched Chopper's back hunch in on itself a little more. 'he heard that.' The fox thought as he watched the yeti disappear.

"But he's a nice person, let's ask him to join us." Luffy said a little later smiling, telling Sanji excitedly how they met a cool monster. Naruto just smiled when he heard the last bit. 'only Luffy manages to see the positive parts in everything, but I don't think Chopper heard that last bit.' He thought as Luffy and Sanji turned to move back inside because of the cold. Naruto made to follow after Chopper when a familiar smell suddenly reached his.

'Wapol' he thought as he recognized it. But before he could do anything Chopper ran past him in his reindeer form towards the room Nami and Doctorine were in. Naruto followed him up the stairs into the room and only barely heard him tell Doctorine that Wapol had returned.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Back at the village they had just managed to dig up Dalton, but he wasn't in a good situation. He had frostbite all over his body and worst of all he had three big arrow sticking out of his chest. He was barely alive when they found him and slowly his heart was starting to stop.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

After Chopper ran into the room again exclaiming that Wapol was coming everyone but Nami moved outside the castle. Almost exactly as Chopper had forewarned, Wapol had shown up in a matter of minutes in front of the castle.

Wapol who hadn't yet noticed them watched 'his' castle with satisfaction before noticing the pirate flag Doctorine and Chopper had put there.

"WHERE IS THE DRUM KINGDOM FLAG?!" He yelled furiously, his face turning red from anger. Doctorine who thought it was time to let them know they were standing there walked forward. "Haha, I've already burned that trash." She said boldly sipping on her wine bottle.

"WHAT!" Wapol yelled, before calming down. Probably to keep from losing face, 'if he even has some left to lose' Naruto viciously while hearing Wapol mumble about disgrace or something. "Hahaha, Dr. Kureha finally you show up, the last doctor on this island. Why don't you just die." He said satisfied as if he'd said something of great value.

This time Chopper joined her and they both stood proudly in front of the castle. "This castle is Dr. Hiluluk's tomb. It's not a place for the rotten like you! Get out of here." She told them putting away her alcohol for a change.

"TOMB?" Wapol laughed, "Haha, that failure of a doctor? Don't make me laugh!" At that Naruto could almost feel the rage building up inside Chopper who was getting ready to attack the man. But before any of them could Luffy beat them to it.

"Aaah you're the one who ate our ship!" He said suddenly realizing it. He charged towards the tin man "You'll pay for that! Gomu gomu no.." He yelled shooting his arms behind him before pulling them back "pistol!" Hitting Wapol in the face. "Wapol-sama!" His subordinates yelled while they followed him.

"Shishishi, this time I won't let you get away with it." Luffy said smiling and holding up the fist with which he hit the man. With the small amount of time Luffy had bought them Naruto wanted to ask Doctorine something.

"Ne who is Dr. Hiluluk?" He asked them. Chopper looked down and seemed sad, not wanting to hear the story he walked over to where Luffy was standing to help with the battle. Doctorine just sighed and took it as permission to tell the story. "I told you guys how Chopper was rejected right?" Naruto nodded while Sanji didn't quite follow but he stayed quiet.

"Well after being attacked by the villagers he was rescued by the quack Dr. Hiluluk, who named him and took him in as his friend and "assistant". The man called himself a doctor but hadn't succeeded in healing a single person, he was weird and rude but he became Chopper's role-model." She explained as they listened.

"Hiluluk taught Chopper his philosophy on life, that all diseases could be cured, and his strong faith in the Jolly Roger as a symbol of strength against all odds." Naruto looked up at that 'so that's why he was interested in our flag' he thought briefly.

"The two went from house to house, administering their "cures" in a country where all doctors not sanctioned by King Wapol were banned. Hiluluk wasn't even really good at what he did, he always seemed to screw up." She said adding the last bit with a slight sneer. Naruto could hear in her voice though that she did care for the man.

"When Hiluluk's health took a turn for the worse, Chopper found himself left out in the cold once again. The old man did not want Chopper to watch him die. But once Chopper found out what was going on, he was determined to find something to cure his mentor, his one and only friend." Her face turned grim when she got to this point.

"He soon found what he was looking for; a special kind of mushroom with skull-and-crossbones prominently displayed in the medical book. He remembered what Hikuluk had told him and started to search, unaware of what that particular sign actually meant medically due to Hiluluk's unconditional praising of pirates and the jolly roger. Remembering what he overheard from some villagers that a "certain" type of mushroom can heal every illness, Chopper stole Hiluluk's favorite medical book to find the miracle mushroom." She said the last bit through her teeth making fists of her hands. Naruto could already guess where this was headed and looked over to where Chopper was standing next to Luffy.

"Chopper left to get the Amiudake mushroom, he had to go through the territory his old pack was at and got beaten up horribly but he managed to get it. Hiluluk overwhelmed with tears of gratitude, ate the mushroom to show his love and appreciation to Chopper even though he knew it would end his life even earlier than he had expected." She said with a bit of a sad tone, Sanji now had his mouth open in shock as they listened to the story. The older teen was surprised by what the reindeer had to go through.

"But Chopper later found out that he had given Dr. Hiluluk a fatal dose of poison when I told him. Hiluluk wasn't going to live much longer anyway, he went to the castle after he was told someone was sick there. This turned out to be a lie though. Hiluluk who was relieved that nobody was sick sat there even though the entire army had him surrounded. He declared that he had a wonderful life and that he would only really die once he was forgotten. After that he blew himself up for Chopper's sake. Chopper arrived at the scene a little later to see what had happened. Wapol of course had to start making fun of Hiluluk and in frustration Chopper attacked. Dalton though, who had heard Hiluluk's last words stopped him and with tears in his eyes apologized for those who mocked him." She told them, Sanji already had tears in his eyes and Naruto was watching Chopper as they prepared themselves for Wapol and his subordinates.

The subordinates where pulling Wapol up from where he was hanging off the mountain. Doctorine turned to Chopper and had pride in her eyes. "After that I kept Hiluluk's last wish and when Chopper asked me to teach him about medicine, so he could learn to cure everything, I taught him everything I know."

Wapol who had just been pulled up turned to Luffy and became red in the face "How dare you attack me I'm a king!" He yelled but Luffy just stuck out his tongue. Doctor Kureha who had finished her story and was no longer distracted finally seemed to notice something. "Do you brats know him?" She asked.

"Of course, they're just annoying pirates that ate our ship." Luffy said as if it was the most normal matter in the world. 'To him it probably was though' Naruto sighed.

Wapol who had enough yelled out of frustration and tried to stand up from the hit. "I have had it with you, I'm definitely going to eat you now!" Determined as he raised his head while holding a bleeding nose he tried to intimidate Luffy only to find him not there.

"You're going to have to wait, he's getting his coat now. Cause I told him it was cold!" Sanji said coolly with a cigarette in his mouth. Wapol comically cried and hit the ground in frustration while his subordinates tried to calm him down. 'Really how is this guy a king?'

Chopper walked back to join the rest of the group as the storytelling was finished. "Hey that guy just stretched didn't he?" Chopper asked Sanji. Sanji nodded, "Yeah, he's a rubber man." he stated as if it explained everything. The cook took a puff of his cigarette as Chopper glanced at him curiously.

"What does that mean?" Chopper asked. Sanji looked at him for a bit before giving him a big smile "it means he's monster!" He said.

Chopper didn't quite get what they meant, but his eyes widened as the cook said that. Naruto couldn't help but smile as he watched the exchange. 'Taking away the difference by calling themselves monsters.' Naruto thought. He walked over to Chopper and looked the confused reindeer in the eyes.

"Everyone on this pirate crew is different, but being different isn't always bad you know. Differences make thing interesting and those who don't get that are just too close minded." Naruto said, his thought took a slightly darker route though. 'yeah differences alone aren't enough to hurt someone, it's the repercussions that can accompany them.' he thought, bad memories resurfacing. Naruto shook his head and gave Chopper the best smile he could put up.

"You've got quite the guts, to occupy our castle when we're not here!" Kuromarimo yelled trying to intimidate Doctor Kureha. He wore a shirt that was orange in the middle with white on the sides, also orange shorts and black boots with white laces. He had a large afro on his head and a beard that went down from his head to his chin. On the beard were three small afros. He also wore a lighter shade of orange cloak with white lining and two black afros at each end. On the front of his cape numerous small white afro like spheres hung loosely. On his hands were gloves that he held like a boxer but even their design had afros on them that were just a bit bigger than the average size.

But Doctorine just smirked back at them. "Well, it's not like I really wanted to stay here, but this guy.." She said pointing to Chopper with her thumb. "said it was Hiluluk's grave and wanted to be here no matter what." Chopper was turning into his yeti like form which he called out to be his 'heavy point'.

"Lord Wapol!" Both the subordinates yelled. "It's the same monster we saw the day that fake doctor was killed!" They said as Wapol looked at Chopper.

"Doctor just wanted to help this country, that's why I cannot let you into this castle!" Chopper said determinedly. "I will never allow anyone to take down Doctor's symbol of faith down from there." Backing his point by standing in front of the castle with his arms crossed.

Wapol didn't even seem to bother listening and just started to laugh loudly. "Hahahaha, if you wanted us to kill you why didn't you just ask! We'll kill you!" Chess and Kuromarimo took their respective fighting positions.

"That's why I never wanted to fight them in the first place." Sanji said, putting the cigarette he had in his mouth down. "Auntie are you going to fight?" He had forgotten the delicateness of words again and got hit on the head by a foot before the woman answered. "Only if you kids need it." With a grin Sanji walked away with his hands on his head where a lump was now growing.

Kuromarimo who had taken a fighting stance yelled to Dr. Kureha. "How dare you use our castle as a grave, you will be the first one to die!" He shot a piece of him marimo towards Doctorine. Sanji tried to block but he got cut off by chess who shot a giant arrow at him while Chopper was a bit too far to get there in time. Doctorine was about to dodge on her own when chains got in the way and caught the marimo midair.

Kuromarimo saw the fox they had encountered before stop his marimo. The expression on his face grew angry recognizing exactly what had just happened. "You annoying monster! Stop getting in our way." The frustrated man leapt towards Naruto and kept shooting marimo's but they all stuck to his chains made of chakra. "That's quite the weapon you got there fox." Doctorine said to him with a grin. Naruto just gave her a grin and turned his attention back to the battle.

"Phew, they should know how to treat a lady better." Sanji said relieved that Naruto had gotten there in time. "Your finally learning how to respect boy." Doctorine added as her smile grew slightly.

Naruto swung the chain around and saw he couldn't get the stupid marimo to stop sticking to the metal. 'What kind of hair sticks to metal!' If anything it was just disgusting to have pieces of hair hanging from your weapons. 'Maybe that's why he does it.' Thus Naruto opted for the next most logical option and stuck it onto Sanji. "It's disgusting so I'm leaving it to you." He wrote as he took a couple of steps away from the cook.

"Eeew, wha... What the hell? These things won't come off. Damn you Naruto!" Sanji yelled trying everything to get those things of him. It's only a few minutes after trying to get the marimo to leave him that he finally gave up and glared at Naruto.

Naruto just grinned at the sight until her saw Sanji's face light up with a new idea. He took another couple of steps back thinking Sanji was up to something until he saw him take small subtle steps closer to Chopper. Naruto could feel his face light up with amusement as he watched Sanji approach the small reindeer and stuck the marimo onto Chopper. Letting out several loud snickers when Choppers made a horribly disgusted face.

Chopper grimaced at how gross and greasy the hairballs were and quickly walked over to Naruto. The fox was once again not quite as careful of his surroundings thanks to his laughter and amusement. Chopper stuck them onto Naruto's fur and ran away, Sanji doing exactly the same. Thus Naruto was left with more than he'd started out with.

Shocked that he'd actually fallen for that, a few tick marks grew on his forehead and he sent all of his chains out towards his crewmates. Sticking the marimo back onto them he moved the hell away from them afterwards.

As all three of them continued to try and dump the marimo's onto someone else they didn't notice Chess and Kuromarimo smirk. Though not the amused kind.

Chopper and Naruto who finally had enough glanced at each other and nodded in an unspoken agreement, they gathered all the marimo's they had and dumped them onto Sanji before running away quickly. "Bait plan!" Chopper yelled and Naruto wrote while they ran away as fast as they could. "Bait plan?... You're using me as bait!?" Sanji yelled infuriated while they kept running.

"FIRE ARROW!" they heard Chess yell as multiple arrows on fire made their way past them. Several hits Sanji on the marimo's which caught fire. Sanji ended up running around trying to put the fire out in the snow. Chopper meanwhile took his chance and charged Chess who was out in the open after firing his arrows. He was about to hit the guy when Wapol got in the way. He pushed Chess out of the way and tried to eat Chopper who was still in his heavy point, just like what happened to Luffy before. Chopper couldn't dodge in time and was swallowed entirely.

Everyone was worried about what had happened, when they heard something behind them. "Aaah, this coat is warm." Sanji saw Luffy running towards them and had an idea. "Luffy grab my legs!" He yelled. "Your leg?" Luffy wondered as he shot out his arms grabbing Sanji's legs. "Don't let go ok? Rubber shot…" Sanji yelled as he shot Luffy towards Wapol. "Air force!"

Luffy hit Wapol straight in the stomach making him spit out Chopper who had been in his mouth. But Luffy hadn't hit him entirely right and rebounded off of him hitting Wapol's white walkie with most of the impact instead. The hippo got hit by Luffy head on and was kicked with such power that he disappeared into the horizon. Though sadly enough, leaving Wapol still on the mountain with them.

Chopper was saved from being eaten but was back in the smaller form he called 'brain point'. "Thanks, you're very strong." Chopper said to Luffy but the young captain wasn't really listening as he watched the white walkie shoot into the horizon.

"Hey Luffy isn't that Nami's jacket?! take it off!" Sanji said pulling on the jacket, but Luffy didn't comply to the demand. Naruto went up to Chopper who looked worried at the scene and stood next to him. "Don't worry they're always like this, ridiculous right?" He yipped. Chopper nodded slightly, though he seemed relieved as he gave a small smile.

"Are you ok? Lord Wapol." Kuromarimo yelled to where the phony king was lying. "We're very sorry we underestimated them." Chess added. But they only heard a bit of grumbling. "I will kill all of them." The king said madly. Both Kuromarimo and Chess swallowed, slightly scared of their lord. Wapol smiled evilly as he looked back to where the Strawhat crew was once again fooling around.

"I will show them, baku baku factory!"

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Dalton-san is still alive. His body is just frozen!" One of the Isshin twenty said. Dalton had just been dug up but his heart was stopping and he had serious wounds. Nobody could do a thing and were panicking until Wapol's personal group of surgeons showed up. "We will take care of him" they all said together.

"But why" Vivi said not understanding, Usopp nodded too "yeah, I thought the Isshin twenty were Wapol's personal doctors?" He said. While Zoro was just watching.

The civilians didn't like this and started to get involved "why should we trust you? You served Wapol! What are you planning to do with Dalton!" One of them said. Pointing and accusing the surgeons.

"If you want to help him just listen to us" one of the doctors said taking of his glasses and face mask. The rest followed his suit while he continued talking "we may have followed Wapol because we were scared, but we have always done medical research for this country" he revealed. He sighed "because we've learned from one fake doctor that we shouldn't give up so easily, but we will no longer listen to that crazy man" he said saying the last bit with disgust in his voice.

After that none of the civilians said anything or interfered as the surgeons operated on dalton.

Having left the plaza to discuss things Vivi, Zoro and Usopp were standing leaning against house. "Let's go up that mountain Usopp-san, mister Bushido. I can't stay here after that avalanche besides Wapol and his crew are after them and we don't even know if doctor Kureha is back at the castle" she said worried about the rest of the crew.

"And you're worried about Dalton and Alabasta too right?" Usopp said seriously gaining the attention. "Calm down Vivi, you worry too much. Luffy, Sanji and even Naruto will take care of Nami. I trust all of them" he said with conviction. Vivi was shocked, they believed in each other so fully she was a bit ashamed of herself for not doing the same. "Thank you Usopp-san". But Zoro just snickered a bit.

"Actually you're just afraid of climbing the mountain aren't you!" He said smirking and poking Usopp on the head. Vivi saw his knees buckling and had to stifle her own laugh. "Of course! There are snow monster and giant flesh eating rabbits up there" Usopp exclaimed.

Zoro sighed "next time just tell the truth" but Usopp scoffed and wouldn't have it "What does it matter anyway, those guys will be fine" he said still showing the trust he had in them despite being scared.

"PLEASE STOP, DALTON-SAN!" they heard behind them, Dalton was trying to get up despite all of his wounds. The villagers were all trying to stop him but he wouldn't have any of it. "This is a good chance for this country to escape from tragedy. If we don't fight them now this country will never rise again" he yelled with conviction.

"But you're hurt" one of the villagers said "and we're too weak". But Dalton didn't back down "I will fight them even if I'm injured. I will fight them with everything I have even if I have to cheat" he said but as soon as he even put one foot in front of the other he buckled under his wounds.

Usopp watched as the man was determined to fulfill his goal and he stepped in front of the him, everything became quiet for a moment as people wondered what he was there for "Get on" he crouched in front of dalton with his back facing him. "I will carry you to the mountain" he said just as determined. "Just wait, I'll get you to the castle" Dalton watched for a bit before nodding and got on his back not being able to do anything else.

Dalton watched as the young man tried to carry him and sighed a bit "Usopp-kun you can't carry me all the way up the mountain" he tried to get him to put him back down. But Usopp refused "who says I can't? I will show you I can do it! You want to fight for this country right, isn't that what you want" he said "trust me I'll get you there!"

Zoro just sighed and shook his head "That idiot" He walked over to Usopp and grabbed Dalton. He put the huge man on his shoulder carrying him without a problem. Leaving Usopp there with nothing and slightly in shock.

"Damn it Zoro" he said kicking Zoro's shin repeatedly "ouch, what are you doing Usopp?" He said. "Stop stealing the spotlight from me!" He yelled causing Zoro to smirk at his accomplishment. "Alright, alright, next time" he muttered.

Vivi followed behind them as they started to leave. The rest of the village who'd been watching the exchange were moved and started to talk between themselves. "Wait if you want to go to the castle give us 30 minutes and we'll get the cable car working, it'll be a lot faster" one of the civilians said. "Are you out of your mind, we don't have any ropes connected to the mountain" another man said.

"Well actually we just found one tied to a tree in Gyasta" he said clearing up the problem. "Gyasta?" Usopp said and Vivi got what that meant "Dr. Kureha probably used it to get down and go back up!"

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"I will show you the real power of the baku baku no mi." Wapol said coughing up blood from Luffy's hit. "Chess why don't you tell them about my breakfast this morning." He said trying to stand up but only managing to do so up until the knees.

"Yes Wapol-sama, this morning you had one baked cannonball, one fresh cannonball and a cannonball salad with gunpowder. Also you ate a restaurant in the village." He recited from the little book he had taken out of his pocket.

"What a weird breakfast." Luffy remarked and Sanji nodded, "yeah there's nothing weirder then that." he agreed. "Take a very good look at my power after breakfast." Wapol continued.

"What's he going to do?" Chopper asked worriedly. "Those thing I ate this morning have already been digested and became a part of my body. BAKU BAKU SHOCK!" Wapol's body started to change and deform into the shape similar to a house, "Wapolu house." He now had the form of a house with two cannons as hands.

"So cooool!" Luffy yelled with stars in his eyes while everyone was just staring perplexed. "It's too soon to be surprised this is the real secret of my power." with that he ate his two subordinates and swallowed them whole. "Wha..!" Sanji couldn't seem to find any words.

Steam went through the cannons on his hands. "Be prepared for the ultimate power of mixed bodies!" he said, as the doors on his hip opened and two gleamy eyes looked through. All of sudden Chess mixed with Kuromarimo walked out of the door. "We're the strongest, Chessmarimo!" they exclaimed proudly.

"That's soo cool!" Luffy's eyes started to sparkle twice as much while everyone else just stared nonplussed.

They were just quiet, well it did look pathetic. 'Didn't chess just let Kuromarimo onto his back?' Naruto thought as he watched the two. It didn't look at all as if they had mixed, you couldn't see Kuromarimo's legs but you'd think he would be on the others back as if he were just giving a piggyback.

"Don't underestimate them." Said Doctorine as she shook everyone out of their stupor. "Wha?" Sanji tried but she cut him off. "If they were as weak they looked don't you think the villagers would have chased them out already?" Everyone nodded and turned back to the battle a little more concentrated.

"The first rule of drum kingdom, whoever dares to go against the king, will be sentenced to death! I am everything to this kingdom, because this kingdom belongs to me, therefore this castle too belongs to me!" He said as he pointed his arms at the castle. "So I won't allow that stupid flag of that fake doctor on my castle! It makes my castle look stupid." He exclaimed gradually adding more power to his voice. Not even moments after he shot at the flag with one of his cannons. It hit and the flag started to fall down the castle slowly falling to the ground.

"A pirate flag." Luffy muttered surprised, "Hey reindeer, what..." But he stopped halfway his sentence when he saw Chopper staring at the flag, the reindeers face slowly turned to that of hurt and anger as he turned to face Wapol so quickly you'd expect him to have a whiplash. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO DOCTOR'S FLAG!" He yelled in frustration as he charged.

Halfway running he changed into his brainpoint swiftly sliding under Chessmarimo and continuing to Wapol. When got close he changed to his heavy point again and jumped onto Wapol. "Doctor..! Doctor even thought about saving your life!" Chopper said somehow half desperate while Sanji and Naruto watched. Chopper raised his fist to start hitting him but found he couldn't, he stopped in front of the tin man and looked down. "I.. I won't hit you.." He said remembering what doctor would have wanted. "But you'd better get out of this country!" He yelled turning back to face him.

"Chopper what are you saying, are you out of your mind?" Dr. Kureha yelled for the first time. Chopper turned to face her in surprise as she spoke but in doing so turned his back on the enemy. Wapol smirked and rose one of his arms and Shot Chopper at point blank. Shocked by what happened everyone watched as Chopper fell to the ground in pain. They were relieved when it became clear the reindeer wasn't wounded too deeply.

"HEY YOU BABBLING MOUTH!" Luffy's loud voice could be heard from above. They looked up and that their captain had climbed the castle and was standing where doctor Hiluluk's flag had been and now was again. Tied together with Luffy's/Nami's coat the flag was once again proudly in its rightful place. "How dare you call Wapol-sama that!" Chessmarimo yelled back.

Luffy ignored them and just stood holding the flag there as he looked down at them determined. "You're just a bunch of frauds, you became pirates without even preparing to risk your lives. You don't know the real meaning of this flag!" He declared in an unusual serious manner.

"He.." Chopper muttered looking slightly awed by Luffy. Naruto watched and listened to what Luffy was saying 'the real meaning of that flag? isn't it just a pirate flag..' Naruto wondered. He had always been surrounded by pirates and bad people together with Robin, none of them had ever been anything near honorable so he'd never thought really thought of whether there was a reason behind anything pirates did. They all just seemed like a bunch of barbarians, his opinion had changed entirely though when they met the Strawhat pirates. He bet even Robin had a slight interest in them after their short meeting but unlike him who could travel she couldn't act on it.

"The true meaning of the pirate flag?" He said laughing. "What's so important about a flag, it's just a decoration for pirates!" He blurted out. "That's why you're a worthless piece of crap!" Luffy strangely calm. "What?" Wapol became angry but Luffy just continued. "This flag isn't something for you to play with!"

"Didn't I tell you this entire kingdom belonged to me? If you want to put that flag there so badly I'll just have to destroy it." He shot another cannonball towards Luffy. But Luffy just stood there without attempting to dodge. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Chopper yelled.

"Who would let you destroy this flag?! THIS PIRATE FLAG IS A SYMBOL OF FAITH!" Luffy said just before the cannonball hit him right in the face. "LUFFY!" Sanji yelled as everyone watched. "Haha, just die you idiot." Wapol smirked.

Naruto and Chopper were watching in an almost awed manner as the smoke cleared, standing there on top of the castle was Luffy still holding onto the flag. He was burned a bit but he was still standing there holding the flag in place, even though the pole had broken away. "This flag will NEVER BE DESTROYED!" exclaimed Luffy. "A PERSON LIKE YOU DOESN'THAVE THE RIGHT TO LAUGH AT AND DESTROY THIS FLAG!" He snapped. Both Wapol and Chessmarimo were intimidated him and took several steps backwards.

Chopper and Naruto were watching him perplexed. 'He's amazing' Chopper thought remembering what doctor had said about there being many amazing pirates out there. Naruto watched as Chopper looked amazed and understood the feeling, 'these guys are so different from the pirates Robin and I have met all our lives.' He thought. They really were amazing standing up for their goals entirely and not hesitating at all. If only they'd met them earlier.

"I'm going to beat them up real soon, what are you going to do Chopper?" Luffy asked Chopper with a big smile on his face "me?" Chopper asked surprised.

"You idiots if you really want to protect that flag so badly, I'll just destroy you and that flag." Wapol said as he tried to fire another cannonball. Sanji who had finally had enough of that tried to charge the man but halfway there he suddenly fell down and couldn't seem get up.

Naruto wondered what was wrong until he heard Dr. Kureha mutter the answer. "Heh, he cracked his spine huh, no wonder with all of the broken ribs and bruises he had there." She was about to run up to him but Naruto beat her to it. He ran up to Sanji and flung him to Dr. Kureha using his chains. A bit rough maybe but it did the job.

Chopper then tried charged Wapol like Sanji had done but he was block by Chessmarimo. "Haha, sorry but I won't let you lay a finger on Wapol-sama." They said to the reindeer as he turned back to his brain point. "Yeah beat them up reindeer!" Luffy yelled down to them as he forced the flag back into the roof holding it secured.

"You're a very strange creature, you must the snow monster the villagers talked about." Chessmarimo said. "No one in the kingdom is like you, what a pathetic thing you are." They laughed at Chopper, while he just stood there listening though still very determined. "You don't have a single friend in this place, why do you still bother to help the kingdom?!" He said laughing even harder. Finally Chopper had had enough and snapped.

"Shut up, even though I don't have anyone I will continue to fight, as long as doctor's flag is here!" He yelled at them. Naruto watched the exchange as he stood where Sanji had collapsed before, 'Chopper is very brave, that flag must be very important to him.' He thought.

"Who says he doesn't have anyone?" They all heard Luffy yell from the castle, Naruto turned to him and saw him throwing his body back while his arms held the flag, like a piece of rubber he shot back heading straight for Wapol. Naruto who was right on the collision course with Luffy had to dodge to get out of the way and Luffy only barely missed Wapol.

Naruto though had been caught off balance and stumbled onto Chopper who was still small in his brain point. "Sorry Chopper.." Naruto wrote as he got off of Chopper. Chopper was still a bit dizzy but nodded. "OI Chopper, Naruto. Can you take care of that guy?" Luffy asked them pointing towards Chessmarimo. Naruto and Chopper glanced at each other and took their battle stances. "Yeah, he's just a weakling." Chopper said while Naruto just barked in agreement.

"You really think you can defeat us?" Chessmarimo said conceitedly. Chopper looked at Naruto, "Ne can you let me do this?" He asked seriously. Naruto thought for a moments but when he saw the determination burning in Chopper's eyes he nodded. "But I will interfere if needed." He yipped as condition, Chopper nodded turning back to the mixed two.

"My name is Tony Tony Chopper, the greatest doctor in the world gave me this name. Even though doctor did I can't forgive you for ridiculing his name!" He said. While Chessmarimo just laughed at the ridiculous declaration "Do your best, we'll beat you to pulp." they said.

Chopper reached into his pocket and took out an orange pill. he held it up in front of him it just barely fit between his hooves. "Rumble ball."

"The rumble ball will only have an effect for three minutes. So I will defeat you with three minutes!" He declared while holding up the pill for all to see. "Three minutes? You couldn't defeat us if you had your whole lifespan to try!" They said.

"Three minutes? Cool!" Luffy said as he again seemed to be interested in the little weird things again but this time Wapol joined him. "That sounds great." he agreed with Luffy in an almost longing manner.

Chopper threw to pill into the air and let it fall into his mouth, he put it between his teeth and bit down hard. Crushing it in his teeth "RUMBLE!"

"What can a person like you do!?" Chessmarimo said as they took another piece of marimo from Kuromarimo's head and put it onto the arrow. They lit it with a fire now holding two bows ready to shoot the marimo's on fire. "Fire arrow marimo!" They yelled as they fired the shots.

Chopper just charged, "walk point" he said as he transformed into his reindeer form and dodged the arrow. "Isn't it just a regular transformation, we know you're eaten a devil fruit just like Dalton did. You must be a reindeer human" they said, but Chopper just ignored them, "heavy point" he said as he transformed back into his yeti like form. "Wrong! I'm an human reindeer." he yelled as he charged after having dodged.

"It doesn't matter! We've already seen all you transformation now anyway. You can't win." They yelled suddenly pulling out fours hammers to attack. "Deadly hammer marimo!" They said. "We have seen all your forms just like Dalton, you can't win." They said swinging down the hammers at the charging reindeer. But Chopper just kept running, "jumping point" he muttered as he suddenly jumped meters into the air with one step dodging the deadly hammers. Chopper was now even more human like as his arms and feet became thinner, but his legs were much longer now and and bent the opposite way. They were very similar to full grown reindeer legs and looked very powerful.

"What is that form?" Chessmarimo asked confused, "Isn't it just the half half form?" they attempted to answer themselves as they tried to attack Chopper again. They threw the hammers up at Chopper with all their might while Chopper was still in the air. For a moment Naruto thought he might have to enter the fight but that thought soon left after he continued to watch.

"Guard point" Chopper muttered as he changed form once more, he was now surrounded entirely by wool like a sheep that hadn't been trimmed his entire life. The hammer came down and hit Chopper with its full power, Chopper was hit and slammed into the ground bouncing off it as he landed several meter away. But he stood up again smoothly as if he hadn't even felt a thing and stood there.

"Impossible, you should only have three forms, what are you?!" They yelled slightly panicked. Chopper stayed there and explained, "Rumble ball is a medicine that I created, it creates a wave that interferes with the frequencies given off by the devil fruit. I spent five years doing research and found out it allows me to transform into four other forms." He said.

"You can transform into seven different forms!?" They said a bit panicked before putting up a brave front. "So what it's not going to help you win!" As they took their own battle stance again.

Naruto who felt a weird a weird aura next to him turned to see what it was. He saw Luffy standing there admiring Chopper, Naruto could literally see the stars surrounding him and glittering in his eyes. "Seven way transformation, that reindeer is really interesting!" Luffy said as he watched. 'Oh boy, He's never going to let Chopper go now..'

Naruto sighed at the antics of the captain and moved to sit next to Doctorine who was sitting on Sanji now so he couldn't escape. "What is he doing?" She asked pointing Luffy who was all sparkly for everyone to see. Sanji sighed "he's just excited hearing about the seven transformation thing." Sanji said explaining it to Dr. Kureha who was perplexed at the idiocy but turned back to the battle. Sanji joined her.

Naruto watched Luffy for a while before also turning back. But before he did he realized something. Wapol wasn't there anymore, Naruto stood up and quietly left so nobody would notice before he re-entered the castle.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Back in front of the castle Chopper was still fighting Chessmarimo and showing them his various forms. "Arm point!" He yelled as his arms grew much more muscled and stronger. Chessmarimo swung their hammer at the little reindeer in attempt to hit him, but he managed to dodge them all.

Chopper flexed the muscles in his arms and hit one of the hammer smashing it to little pieces in one hit. Chessmarimo looked shocked at what was left over of the hammer, Chopper just gave them an intimidating look and raised his hooves. "Just so you know, one of my hits can shatter rock."

But even though he said that Chessmarimo didn't give up, they grabbed into their cape and pulled out another quartet of weapons. Only this time they weren't made of wood, they were axes made of metal. "DEADLY AXE MARIMO!" They yelled.

Chopper just watched as they took another fighting stance and prepared to attack, but as soon as they moved the axes to attack Chopper shifted. "Jump point" He mumbled as he jumped out of the way.

"8 DIRECTIONAL ATTACK!" They moved the axes in X patterns attacking Chopper from various sides and positions, but he just kept moving and dodging out of the way. "Come on the, why are you just dodging? You can't defeat me like that?!" They said smirking at the reindeer.

The pair kept advancing but Chopper stayed calm, he took a jump backwards to get some distance between him and the opponent. "Brain point" turning back to his small form he put his hooves together forming a space in the form of a diamond between them.

"Hooo, Chopper is planning on finishing it." Dr. Kureha said from where they were watching. Luffy just kept his attention at the reindeer expecting something while Sanji wanted to ask, but Doctorine just shushed him.

"I'm not running away, I'm searching for you weakness." Chopper said as he looked through the small space between his hooves 'SCOPE!"

"It's gonna be a beam! He's going to release energy like ultraman, Coool!" Luffy yelled from the side as the sparkles in his eyes came back. Doctorine stared at the boy before sighing, "that's stupid, who's gonna do that?" Sanji nodded his head in agreement. But Luffy wouldn't let himself be put down, "stay out of it auntie, it's definitely gonna be a beam!" Doctorine grew a tick mark on her head in annoyance and they continued to fight about who was right as she couldn't leave her patient at the moment. 'I'll make that kid pay for calling me old later' she thought as the tick mark grew every moment.

Chopper ignored what was happening behind him in the sidelines and continued to scope his opponent for weaknesses. But Kuromarimo wouldn't stay still for long and they started to charge to the reindeer. "What can you do by just looking?" They sneered, but Chopper continued to look as they got closer. "We're invincible, let's see how you escape now!"

Just before the pair got close enough Chopper's eyes widened. "found it, it's the chin!" He released his stance and turned into his, "jump point" and jumped out of the way. For a moment he was too quick to follow and Kuromarimo lost sight of him. Chopper who jumped out of the way and was now so close to them they looked over him, had turned to his "arm point" and took on another fighting stance. Kuromarimo kept looking around for the reindeer. "Where are you?"

Chopper just flexed his muscles and he got ready to hit them, "Kokutei.." He started, Kuromarimo heard the word and noticed him sitting in front of them but just a bit too late. "ROSEO!" Chopper hit them in the chin hard and send them flying backwards as they spat out blood. Falling on the ground they didn't get back up.

"Three minutes exactly." Chopper said as he changed back into his 'brain point'. He slowly walked back to where everyone else was. "Great job reindeer!" Luffy yelled happily though a bit disappointed there was no beam. Chopper absently watched the captain complement him but he wasn't entirely listening, luckily enough it was preventing his embarrassment. He looked around noticing something. "Hey where is Wapol?" Luffy paused and they all looked around them.

"AH!"


	14. Conclusion and a new nakama

**Chapter 14**

 **Ketsuron to atarashī nakama**

Naruto's paws carried him across the snow laden floor of the castle as he made his way towards the room Nami was resting in. He was hoping to beat Wapol to the room but as he ran up the staircase and into the corridor he noticed the rooms door had already been opened. Speeding up a little more he slid into the room to find Nami pinned down by a very thin tall guy with a.. With a tin mouth?

Wapol?

Really he couldn't really tell, or maybe he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it? The man's clothing was exactly the same as those the stupid king had been wearing but this stranger was suddenly only a fifth of his former weight,

and format at that.

The guy was almost perfectly proportioned now, tall and thin. But he didn't dwell on the matter too long. Sending out his chakra chains they the lookalike in the face. The other lost his balance as he was hit in the face and tumbled over the railing. Not sparing the man another second Naruto rushed to Nami's side.

"Nami you ok?" He chirped as he checked her for any wounds. 'Really what kind of king assault a teen girl when she's sick!' Disgust and frustration seemed to radiate from him as he worriedly yipped out reassurances towards his fellow crewmember. Really if the guy had hurt her he'd .. wait what?

Abruptly Nami started to laugh causing him to look up. Watching the navigator collapse with laughter didn't really clear up any of the confusion he was feeling. He could swear there were probably question marks floating above his head right now. He tilted his head not really following the situation as she continued to laugh even harder.

"Hahahaha. Naruto, haha, you look too haha cute like that!" She said as she tried to catch her breath. Naruto couldn't but stare for a few moments before her words registered. When he finally understood just what she'd said he could feel the embarrassment rushing in again. The almost familiar feeling of a red tint in his face really didn't help at all. This time though he didn't hide his face, they didn't know if or when Wapol might come back after all. After a few seconds she finally found her breath again and calmed down, she wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes and smiled brightly. "Sorry, sorry, it's just you were so panicked that you didn't notice you weren't writing anything, I didn't quite understand a thing you just tried to say."

Naruto just stared at her for a second letting her word sink in when he started hitting his head on the wall for his stupidity. 'Really?! This crew seriously makes me lose it.' He sighed and lifted his head slightly after hitting it once more and wrote a message.

"Sorry, I was worried about whether you had any injuries." He wrote. She shook her head with amusement when they suddenly heard laughter from the floor below them. The both of them moved to the railing where they saw Luffy standing in front of Wapol. The unwanted king seemed to be explaining his plans to the captain.

"Behind me is where all the weapons are stored, if I eat all of those weapons I will become the ultimate weapon to defeat you. I will open it now!" He declared and he moved to the door while reaching for his hips, when he suddenly let out a panicked yell. "Where is it?!" He searched every bit of his belt but couldn't find what he was looking for. "It's gone, my key is gone!" He exclaimed. It became very quiet for a minute as he didn't what to do before turning tail again. He ran up the stairs and continued all the way up.

Naruto saw Nami sighing, laying her face in her palm, and asked her what was wrong. "Well I just stole these keys from him hoping it was treasure but to think it turned out to be nothing more than a storage key to weapons." She said disappointed, this time it was Naruto's turn to laugh, her greediness had ended up helping them.

Naruto walked away when he saw Sanji crawling towards Nami with Doctorine and Chopper slowly following him. "Nami I'm going to watch the conclusion." He wrote to her before running up the stairs to where Luffy and Wapol were, he barely saw her nod and wave before he was up the stairs.

Naruto entered the room at the top of the stairs just in time to see a giant cannon Wapol had pointed to them fail to fire.

All because of a nest of snowbird nesting there. Wapol comically cried at the failure and tried to convince Luffy to let him go. Luffy just smiled and grabbed Wapol's face roughly holding him of the ground.

"You're so wrong kid, drum kingdom is a member of the world government. If you attack me, the king, you will become the world governments enemy!" He said in a last attempt hoping to save himself at the last moment. Naruto flinched slightly, 'world government, tch, what a load of crap.' He thought viciously.

Luffy's face didn't seem intimidated in the least and he actually took on a serious expression, gripping the king harder. Positioning his fist the captain was ready to punch him in the face.

"I don't care whether you're a king or not, I'm a pirate and this is just a fight." He said as he punched Wapol in the face. The king was forced through the ceiling and landed roughly onto the edge of roof. Right next to the flag he'd tried to shoot down only minutes before. Luffy followed Wapol to the roof who was looking at doctor's flag.

"A person who isn't prepared to risk his life, doesn't deserve the right to touch that flag." Luffy said resolutely, flexing his fists and hitting them against each other. Wapol froze in fear and could only look on as Luffy threw both hands backwards in preparation. "Gomu gomu no.." He began as he waited for them to shoot back. "BAZOOKA!" Hitting Wapol into the horizon.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Vivi, the rest of the crew and almost half the village were nearly at the top of the mountain. They were travelling up the mountain in a lift attached to a rope that led up to the castle. Laying in the middle of the cabin was a heavily wound Dalton. The man was determinedly sitting up and focusing only on the castle that they were slowly approaching. The man was coughing up more and more blood the longer it took, but he was frustrated about Wapol and wanted to reach the top as fast as possible.

"I will end this tragedy." He said resolutely but his face turned grim after a moment of silence. "What is history?" He couldn't help but mutter sarcastically as he remembered all the bad things Wapol had done and more importantly all the bad things he had allowed to be done while at the kings side. "What is a government?" He asked again, unable to fathom how he had let such terrible things happen for so long.

After a few more moments the frustration and regrets built up to much to keep inside any longer. Tears began to move down his face, he started to cry letting out all of his frustrations and long repressed feelings.

"What is wrong with giving your heart to the country?" He wondered out loud. Thinking of the thoughtless and idiotic king who abandoned his country. Vivi who was standing next to the man couldn't help but gasp. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and her hands moved to cover her mouth. She couldn't help but know exactly how the man in front of her felt. As someone who was feeling the exact same, Alabasta was the country she'd give her everything for and more.

Usopp and Zoro watched the Vivi in silence understanding what she was thinking.

As Dalton calmed down he crouched and leaned on one of his legs. "Everyone when we get to the castle, step back." He said showing the dynamite he'd hidden under his coat. Everyone gasped.

As soon as they reached the castle everyone blocked Dalton to prevent him from using the dynamite and let Usopp and Zoro go first. "I will go look at the situation first, so everyone stay here." Usopp declared bravely. Together they stepped out of the cabin only for Usopp to start hiding behind Zoro as soon as they had turned the corner. "Hey stop pushing me would ya?" Zoro said irritated when Usopp kept leaning on him. "If you're scared then go back!" But Usopp shook his head "Wh-wh-who ever said I was af-af-afraid." He stuttered as he glanced at the surrounding. Zoro just sighed and continued trying to walk straight ahead. When they suddenly heard yelling from above.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Naruto had watched as Luffy send Wapol flying with his bazooka attack and for a while now Luffy just continued to sit on the roof watching the direction in which he'd sent Wapol. "Hey Luffy you ok?" He wrote to him and he yipped and barked. Luffy turned around and saw Naruto sitting there patiently waiting for him. "Yeah I'm great and I feel great after beating him up." He said proudly causing Naruto to chuckle. Luffy was about to say something else when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes, without even asking he shot his arm towards Naruto and grabbed him before he threw himself of the roof. Naruto panicked as they were falling, having no idea how he'd land safely, he only hoped Luffy remembered he wasn't made of rubber!

"Ooooooooi, Usopp! Zoro!" He yelled when they were already halfway there. Being as close as they were Zoro and Usopp couldn't dodge and they all collided heads on, hurting everyone but Luffy who was, of course, made of rubber. It took a minute for all of them to find their bearings and to check for serious injuries. Hearing chuckling though Naruto, Usopp and Zoro all stood up and hit Luffy on the head.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Two yelled and one wrote in ominous letter while barking angrily. "Hahahaha, sorry." Luffy said with a head full of bumps and bruises. 'Idiot' Naruto thought as he walked away from the trio, he wanted to find the reindeer, he still had some questions he wanted to ask. Before he could manage to though Vivi appeared behind him and started to pet and scratch behind his ears. Even now he was convinced that it should be criminal for something to feel so good. A purring sound rumbled from the back of his throat. To move away was too tall a task for him, thus he settles for just listened to what was happening around him. He could always ask Chopper later.

"Huh Usopp? I thought you couldn't hike?" Luffy asked as the idiot he usually was. "As if a mountain could stop me, I am the GREAT USOPP-SAMA!" Usopp said inflating his own ego. The teen continued even when There wasn't anyone left listening.

"No, we just used a lift to get us here. Anyway are Nami-san and Sanji-san okay?" Vivi asked worried. She didn't see either of them about. "Shishishi yeah they're fine." Luffy grinned proudly. He had after all accomplished his goal of getting everyone up safely, despite some minor mishaps. Vivi sighed relieved and smiled.

"What were you doing at the top of the castle anyway?" Zoro asked as Dalton stepped out of the passage lading to the rope-car behind him, the villagers slowly following behind him. "I just chased that stupid king away." Luffy said in an almost pouting manner. 'Probably unhappy that we weren't as enthusiastic about that "greeting" of his.' Naruto thought absently still enjoying the scratching of his ears.

"So that thing that flew away was really Wapol? What about the other two?" Dalton asked hurriedly as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Ooh the reindeer beat them." Luffy added.

"Reindeer?" Nearly everyone said surprised.

In her surprise Vivi stopped scratching Naruto behind the ears who frowned slightly in disappointment. Taking it as a sign to continue with his short-term objective. He looked around and saw Chopper hiding behind the trees, seeing his chance to talk he walked over. Of course things are never that easy, it would be a crime for something to go smoothly.

"But anyway we got a new crew member." He could hear Luffy say to Usopp. Naruto walked up to Chopper who was just watching him move as the reindeer hid behind the tree. It was only when Chopper suddenly flinched that Naruto looked behind him to see Dalton staring at Chopper. 'Not that hard to find though with the way he hides.' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. Ignoring the man he moved over to the young reindeer.

"You know you're still hiding wrong." he yipped, Chopper jumped and looked at himself he shook his head and turned his body into the right position. Chopper was about to thank him when they both heard yelling behind them.

"Thank you very much, I am sure that from now on drum kingdom will become a better country!" Dalton yelled while bowing down in gratitude to the human reindeer. Chopper just kept looking as if it was some kind of trick. Though because of the loud yelling everyone noticed Chopper and the villagers started to load their gun once more in fear. "Wait don't shoot him!" Dalton yelled but it was too late as Chopper panicked and started to run away, Luffy chasing after him to get him to join his crew.

Naruto just sat there cut off early again, 'and I hadn't even asked him what I wanted to yet.' He openly sulked this time. 'This was how many times now?'

"Everyone." They suddenly heard someone call out from behind them. Dr. Kureha was standing there, "Is everyone ok? Just take all the hurt people inside the castle!" She pretty much demanced with a grin pointing to the castle. She didn't really seem worried, rather almost happy to have so many patients and probably even the things she could take for payment. "And that means everyone!" She said sternly as they all agreed.

Naruto smelled the air and recognized Nami and Sanji hiding behind the wall as everyone started to move the sick. 'This isn't going to end well...' He thought as he watched Dr. Kureha move past the place. No sooner had he thought that did she kicked the wall to pieces. To actual little pieces. "And that means you brats too!" She said sternly as she pulled them inside by the ears.

After every sick person had been put in the castle they had all gathered in the rooms where Nami and Dalton were laying. Sanji had been kicked into unconsciousness and dumped in the next room because he was trying to escape. Of course Doctorine wouldn't have that. Luffy and Usopp were still outside chasing Chopper and doing whatever, and Zoro... Well they didn't quite know where he was. Knowing him he might even be sleeping somewhere in the snow outside. Naruto wouldn't put it past the guy anyhow.

"Your condition is getting worse cause you worked too hard!" Doctorine said to Nami as she drank from her alcohol bottle. She walked to the bed Nami was lying in and sat on it but she turned to face Dalton. "By the way Dalton, do you know where the key to the weapons room is?" She asked. Dalton just looked surprised, "Why? Do you need it?" He asked.

Dr. Kureha just took another sip out of her bottle and shrugged. "None of ya business," she said plainly. Dalton sat up and thought for a bit, "Wapol always had that key so I think it flew away with him." Doctorine just turned around. "Oh, is that so?" She said calmly but Naruto could see she was worried about that little detail. He also noticed Nami's smirk at that little fact, 'wait a minute didn't she..' He wondered what Nami was planning.

"Ne doctor, I am not going to pay you for your treatments and you are going to let us continue our travels now." Nami said to her, the old woman just turned around and gave her a look that said. 'And why the hell would I do that?' She grabbed Nami by the collar and pulled her towards herself.

"Are you kidding me I will be taking all of the treasure on your ship and you will be staying here for at least another two days." She said while Vivi agreed, "Yes Nami-san you have to rest and make sure you're better." Nami shook her head and wove her hand in a 'don't know what you're talking about' gesture.

"But Vivi I feel great now, there's now need to be here for another two days." She said still grinning. She slid her hand under the cushion and pulled out her secret weapon. "So do you really not need this?" She said cheekily twirling the key on her finger. Giving the older woman a knowing look.

"Where did you get that key?" Said Dalton surprised, confirming to everyone that it was indeed the right key. Dr. Kureha grimaced slightly before smiling again, she reached over to Nami. "You're a very brave girl to use this to negotiate with me." She looked at the navigator thoughtfully. "You're not such a good girl are you?" She grabbed the keys from Nami's hands and walked away. "I'll take this as payment for the treatment but as a doctor I can't let you go yet." She said walking to the door.

Nami watched with an open mouth before returning to her normal sassy attitude. "In that case we have no deal! Give me back the keys!" She said holding out her arms as if it was she hadn't actually stolen the key from somebody else herself.

Dr. Kureha turned around to face them just in front of the door. She pointed towards Nami with the other hand on her hip. "Now listen here little girl. I will be going down to the weapon storage. There are coats in that cupboard." She said pointing across the room, "And there will be no one else left in the room. I have healed that other boy. But you can't leave this room, now the rest of you come with me." She said as the rest of the people in the room followed her, mostly out of fear.

Nami, Vivi, Naruto and Dalton were left alone in the room with Sanji in the next. Dalton gaped at what had just happened while Nami smiled and shrugged. "I feel that she wants me to take a coat, grab Sanji and get out of here." She said. Vivi kept staring at the door and nodded. "Yes that's what I heard too." Still not believing what he just saw, Dalton just kept staring at the door silently.

"Moody old woman isn't she." Naruto wrote quite honestly as he heard Nami and Vivi snicker at his remark. "YOU BETTER NOT BE CALLING ME OLD, OR I'LL BE SKINNING WHOEVER SAID THAT!" They heard someone yelling from downstairs while everyone else there just answered a polite 'no' in panic. Naruto shut his mouth and didn't write a thing. He wasn't going to do that again while Nami and Vivi mentally agreed with that notion. 'Did she learn to predict or talk to animals from Chopper or something?' Naruto thought. 'Seriously, that was written down!'

They grabbed Sanji and some coats and left the castle to pick everyone else up, but outside the castle Luffy was still yelling for the reindeer to come out. Zoro who had apparently been with Luffy and Usopp spoke up. "Luffy, maybe he doesn't want to be a pirate?" The swordsman said sensibly. "How can you know that? I want him to be a pirate!" Luffy stated selfishly as he continued to yell for Chopper.

"THAT'S ONLY YOUR DECISION!" Both Zoro and Usopp yelled tiredly at their idiotic captain. Vivi, Naruto and Nami walked up to them with sweat drops on their faces. Sanji was on Naruto's back unconscious but as soon as they reached the rest of the crew he dropped him on the ground without hesitation. Vivi saw that, "Naruto-kun isn't that a bit harsh?"

Naruto just shrugged and watched. He was interested in what Chopper was going to do, he knew how tempting it was to join this particular crew. It was like walking in the freezing cold and seeing someone sitting at a fire and inviting you to come over, you exceptionally had to ignore. Especially when you're as lonely as Chopper, at least Naruto had Robin. Sure Chopper had Doctorine but she wasn't the type to show affection. A little later just as Naruto had expected Chopper appeared in front of them after Luffy kept yelling.

"Hey Reindeer!" Luffy yelled with a huge smile on his face that was growing even bigger. "You want to become pirates with me?!" While waving his arms in the air.

"That's impossible." Chopper said looking down, his hat shadowing his face. But Luffy wasn't one to be shot down so easily.

"Why is it impossible, being a pirate is fun!" Luffy said in a clueless manner as he continued to wave and smile. Usopp who was standing next to him was doing a tsukkomi and couldn't follow his captain in his line of thought. "I really don't understand you Luffy." He muttered. Naruto was thinking the same thing when Chopper started to talk again.

"I really want to but.." He whispered though many of them still heard it. "But I'm a reindeer! I have hooves and horns, I even have a blue nose! I want to become a pirate too but I'm not human, I'm a monster! I can't be friends with humans." He yelled desperately trying to get them to change their mind. "That's why I came to thank you." He said in a softer tone with tears in his eyes. "Thank you for asking me, but I will stay here. I'll be staying here but if you ever get bored and come to visit I'll be very happy." He said wiping his nose and tears from his eyes. He tried to continue but before he could say anything else Luffy beat him to it.

"JUST SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy yelled as he shot his arms in the air with a big smile on his face. Chopper who had just managed to wipe away all the tears started to cry again. Everyone around them just smiled at Luffy's ridiculously forward way of doing thing.

"Ok." Chopper mumbled as he tried to stop the tears flowing from his eyes. He looked like a mess yet the satisfaction was clear. It looked like Chopper had made the right decision.

Several minutes later when Chopper had finally calmed down again he told them he would go tell Dr. Kureha his decision.

"Why aren't we saying goodbye to the doctor?" Luffy asked Nami while sitting on a human sized handmade giant snowball. Nami just sighed and thought of a way to explain it to their dense captain. "Even though Doctorine seems very cold and harsh, she really cares for Chopper. So it's going to be a very sad goodbye." She explained to him. Luffy nodded though Naruto could see he didn't really understand it anyway.

"So we're leaving without saying goodbye?" Usopp asked Nami once more. She nodded, "Yeah, we're leaving as soon as Chopper returns and we'll head for Alabasta." She explained to Usopp.

Naruto was listening to the conversation but he was starting bored. The thought had barely even crossed his mind before a sly grin spread across his face.

He hadn't done any pranking in the couple of days he had been with them and he was getting sick of it. When he woke up earlier he had been tired of the climb up the mountain and was actually suffering from a minor case of chakra exhaustion but now he had mostly recovered. He was twitching with the urge to prank someone. He looked around in search for something and saw Luffy still sitting on the giant snowball he smirked.

He stood up and turned to where Luffy was sitting and he charged. Luffy who had been enjoying his time sitting on the giant snowball didn't notice anything as the snowball collapsed. Naruto charged into the snowball and went straight through turning back into powder, causing Luffy to fall into the snow and be entirely submerged. When Luffy finally managed to get his head above snow everyone in the clearing started to laugh, Luffy was totally covered in snow he even had his own personalized snow hat to add the final detail. All in all It looked totally ridiculous and hilarious.

"DAMN IT NARUTO, WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" He yelled as he tried to get out of the snow. But Naruto wasn't listening he was rolling on the ground in laughter, he had missed the feeling of pranking people and this was just what he needed. 'Oooh pranking is the best.' He thought. He slowly calmed down as he heard Luffy yell loudly but before he could comprehend what was happening he felt a snowball hit him in the face.

"Shishishi, now you're covered in snow too." Luffy said grinning broadly at said fox.

Naruto just smiled as he slid his tails under the snow and flung a huge amount of snow back onto Luffy. Luffy just smirked and he started to run around the field making snowballs as he dodged. Naruto ran into the opposite direction for cover as Luffy began to barrage them all with snowballs. Of course the first one didn't hit Naruto, he dodged and it hit Zoro instead. The swordsman glared harshly at his captain but not evens seconds later the teen had made one himself and made attempts to get revenge on Luffy. Once again It didn't quite go as planned though. As Luffy dodged the snowballs hit everything but their intended target. One such result was hitting Usopp in the nose.

Usopp started to laugh and joined them in their snow fight. Each and every one of them slowly entered the fight after being hit once or twice and the snow fight took over the entire clearing. Snow was thrown from one side to the other. Only Sanji who was still unconscious hadn't joined.

Naruto ran around the field dodging attack coming from all direction, he himself was gathering snow with his tails and forming them into one huge snowball. Usopp who was dodging the giant amount of snowballs, Luffy somehow managed to use his bazooka attack to rapidly fire snowballs. Of course the liar didn't notice Naruto approaching him from behind as he threw the giant snowball on top of his head. "T-T-That's c-c-cold!" Usopp jittered as the snow made its way through his coat. Naruto grinned at his accomplishment and failed to notice another snowball heading his way as he was hit by Zoro's snowball. He got hit on the side of his face, Zoro smirked at the fox but he too was soon also hit by someone else. Nami was grinning cheekily at the swordsman as she waved her hand innocently at him. When she noticed Zoro had noticed her she immediately moved behind the tree where Vivi had already made her own fortress.

Chopper was staring at all the happening with surprised wide eyes as snow began to find its way into the air around him. Really it was Vivi who called the little reindeer to her and explained exactly what it was they were doing. After the youngest in the group had managed to hit Zoro, without any seeming repercussion he too was entirely immersed in the game.

Naruto was really enjoying himself, everyone was having fun and childishly throwing things at one another. He really felt as if he was having another childhood when he was with this crew. 'I really wouldn't mind staying with these guys forever.' he thought briefly enjoying himself in the time together with them.

He sat down and closed his eyes savoring the moment, until he heard everyone gasp. He opened his eyes and saw everyone staring at him. "WOAH, THAT'S SO COOL NARUTO!" Luffy yelled excitedly, while everyone else just stared at him wide eyed. Naruto really didn't get what was so weird so he asked them what was wrong.

"You mean, You really don't notice?" Nami asked apparently perplexed by him for some reason. He wanted to shake his head to tell them he didn't feel any different when he suddenly realized he did feel different, it was as if his chakra coils had grown and he felt stronger than he usually did. His eyes widened as he recognized the feeling. He turned his head around to count the amount of tails he had and saw he one too many.

'I have four tails?' He thought but why? Wasn't he supposed to increase in tails when he got stronger? He had hardly fought the last few days and certainly hadn't gotten any stronger. So why did he now have an extra tail? He really didn't get this! 'I really wish mom was here right now to tell me.' He thought as he remembered what Saul had told them about his mother. Naruto turned back to the group that was still staring at him.

He was probably going to have to explain why he suddenly had an increase in tails. They looked at him with expectations in their eyes. "So care to explain?" Nami asked, she seemed really curious to know why. 'maybe because he role in the crew is bit more scientific than most?' he thought briefly. Naruto sighed a bit, this wasn't really something he could hide really.

"Well you know I'm a fox yokai right?" He said to them as they nodded. "When I get stronger the amount of tails I have increase, or at least that what I had thought." He explained, everyone rose their eyebrows when he said the last bit. Nami though was the only one who asked. "what do you mean 'you thought'?"

"Well, I haven't gotten any stronger physically for a while now so I don't know. There's probably something else involved somehow." He told her, she just nodded and looked like she wanted to know more. She seemed to understand though that he didn't know either.

Vivi though didn't want to give up just yet. "So you didn't get any stronger physically? But what about mentally or emotionally?" She asked him. Question marks made their way across the space above the head of several people. Most prominently Luffy. But even Naruto himself didn't quite follow.

Vivi sighed a bit before explaining what she meant. "You know, like he has grown up more of is emotionally more mature. Don't they say that physical aspect are important but mental health is just as important? Maybe he's become more like an adult or he's gotten stronger mentally." She said. 'What do you mean more 'like' an adult, I am an adult' Naruto grumbled briefly. He was quite unable to mention his thoughts though as Nami continued where Vivi had left off.

"So instead of something he did it might be something he thought or felt." She tried to confirm with Vivi who was now happy someone understood.

"So what were you thinking about before you noticed us gaping at you? Was there anything different compared to the usual?" Nami said slightly careful in her wording of the question, because Naruto hadn't noticed the increase in tails before they told him. Naruto thought deeply for a moment on what it could be.

It took him a few moments but when he realized what it was he couldn't help but turn his head away from the rest. Slowly his face was turning a bright tint of red, clearly seen through his sun kissed fur. Everyone noticed as Nami suddenly had a growing smirk on her face. "Were you thinking of something dirty?" She teased. Naruto started to yip and bark in denial while Vivi just turned bright red as well, others not really understanding what Nami was implying. Zoro just smirked at the suggestion in a manner similar to Nami.

"NO!" He wrote after initially yipping having forgotten he couldn't talk. Nami pouted for a bit while Vivi calmed down after reading that. "So then what was it?" Nami asked a bit deflated. But Naruto just turned redder as he looked to the ground. It was very quiet for a moment as nobody spoke. After a few seconds Naruto sighed and turned to look away from the expecting faces before he mumbled. "I thought that I wouldn't mind going on an adventure and traveling around if it was together with you guys." He wrote suddenly finding the ground to be something very interesting.

Everyone who read that couldn't help but smile, they remembered him not being very keen on joining in at the beginning. Initially he only joined them because Luffy was not going to give in. The girls squeaked on how cute he was, while the boys watched as Naruto nearly got squished in a hug. Really his instincts as a fox weren't quite agreeable with hugs like this! And maybe his survival instinct as well.

But before any of them could give their own reactions to Naruto's confession, they heard yelling in the distance.

"DOCTOR'S RESEARCH HAS ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED?!" They heard someone yell. As soon as it took for the sound to reach their ears they saw Chopper running towards them with a sled sliding behind him. 'Well now he looks just like an actual reindeer.' Naruto thought grateful for the distraction. "Ehh, what's going on?" Nami muttered as they watched Chopper run towards them. "Everyone hop on! We are going now!" Chopper yelled.

No one knew quite what the reindeer was trying to do until they saw Doctorine running behind him with knives, lots and lots of knives. She was throwing them like a crazy hoot towards Chopper as she chased him like a madman. Everyone started to panic and threw themselves onto the sled as Chopper continued to run away from Doctorine. When they came to the edge of the mountain Chopper just continued to run as everyone in the slay started yelling, some in panic and some in excitement. But soon they landed onto the rope of the snow car that brought some of them up and he started to carry them down.

Everyone in the villages down below was looking at them. The silhouette of a reindeer and a sled flying in front of the moon was a sight to behold.

Everyone in the sled was squashed together because of the hurry but all of them noticed the sadness Chopper was radiating. He was yelling and crying about doctor's research, wondering whether Hiluluk had really finished his research in the end or if it was all just in big lie. But nonetheless he continued to run down the rope, to get his new friends to where they had to go.

As soon as they got down the mountain they came to a stop when they heard multiple cannon shots being fired from the castle. They all stood at the foot of the mountain watching as the spectacle unfolded itself. It was definitely a sight to behold even if it's significance was lost on everyone but Chopper.

The reindeer in particular cried his heart out at the sight of it. He was relieved his doctor's research had really been completed, he really could do anything if he set his mind to it.

Blossoming in front of them was a huge sakura tree, the mountain forming it's trunk while all the snow that had turned pink in color from the cannon shots. It was an absolutely wonderful sight as the pink snow glowed in the light of the huge full moon that night. Everyone watched holding their breaths as Chopper continued to cry while watching the blossoms, the sakura that had once upon a time saved the life of Doctor Hiluluk.

That is how their adventure in drum kingdom came to an end.


	15. Arrival in Alabasta and a brother

**Chapter 15**

 **Arabasta ni tochaku to ani.**

Naruto stared in amusement as Luffy tried to fool Sanji. Really if there was anything the teen would probably never be able to do, it was lying.

The night they had left drum kingdom they had a banquet party with lots of food, laughter and yelling. At first they couldn't get Chopper to join in because he was still sad about leaving his home island, but after the party got really heated even Chopper couldn't help but join in. In the end everyone spent the whole night singing, dancing and eating. It was a combination of ridiculously acts, lots of loud noises and fun all at once.

Now though it was a day later and all of the food Sanji had carefully rationed for the next few days to Alabasta had disappeared. The culprit? Well of course.

 _Luffy_

But surprisingly this time he hadn't done it on his own. Because three others were sitting on the railing facing the ocean with unseen food in their mouths as they tried to chew and swallow it as quickly as possible. Usopp, Chopper and Carue.

"Hey, why do you keep looking away. Look me in the eyes when you tell me!" Sanji said as Luffy sat in front of him on his knees as though he was being interrogated. Though really he was being interrogated. Naruto really had to put in some effort to not start laughing outright because Luffy was utterly failing at telling Sanji he hadn't eaten anything.

His eyes were looking everywhere but Sanji, his lips would puck together in some ridiculous attempt to look innocent. Worst of all though was that he started to stutter and tried to whistle. As if whistling didn't look suspicious at all.

'Does he even understand why people try to use whistling to avoid attention?' Naruto thought.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me, how is it that all the food I rationed for the nine days all the way to Alabasta, has mysteriously disappeared overnight?" The cook grabbed Luffy's by the cheeks with one hand to force the captain to look him in the eye. A sensible decision really, the captain had pretty much ended up facing the other way to avoid Sanji before he took matter into his own hands.

"Resistance is futile, you'd be a terrible poker player." The blond said but Luffy didn't give even though he was in no way convincing anyone of his innocence.

Sanji puffed on his cigarette and sighed. "Luffy, there's something on the side of your mouth." He said motioning to his own face in reference. Luffy's eyes grew very wide in panic before blurting out. "OH CRAP, LEFTOVERS!"

Sanji grew a tick mark as Luffy yelled out before hitting him over the head. "SEE IT WAS YOU!"

And really he had tried to hold it in for as long as he could, but the entire scene was just too funny. Naruto hold his snickers and started to laugh at his captain, rolling on the ground. After a few more moments of enjoying the strange situation he had a new idea.

After all shouldn't all accomplices be held accountable for their crimes?

He glances up at the other three and smirked evilly. As if sensing something dangerous the three of them straightened up while Naruto just patiently walked up to Sanji and wrote him a message. As soon as the blond was done reading it Sanji stood up and walked over to railing Usopp, Chopper and Carue were sitting on.

Without further due he raised his fist and hit all three of them on the head hard one by one.

They all fell backwards onto the deck mourning the bump on their heads and the painful sensation it left behind. Usopp had an idea as to why the cook knew of their antics and muttered traitor towards the fox standing behind them. Naruto just sniggered. "Don't eat our food then!" He wrote.

"See Nami-swaan that's why I need a refrigerator with a lock on it." Sanji begged her with his usual flirty act. Nami sighed as she and Vivi same down to stand on the deck. "I'll think about, as it is now it might end up saving our lives." Muttering the last bit. 'That probably isn't all that far off.' Naruto couldn't help but add in his thoughts. After all the captain could eat for entire legions if they let him eat to his desires.

Zoro was training on the other side of the boat. This time he was allowed to though. Chopper had taken care of his feet now and the swordsman was allowed to move and do some light training. Of course the definition of 'light training' was debatable he was actually keeping it down a little. So Naruto finally didn't have to keep threatening him most of the day.

As Nami and Vivi started to have a discussion on the newest fashion in Alabasta, Naruto himself starting to nod off near the mast. He'd done several jokes in the last few days on this boat and he was quite satisfied with the results. Not too many yet more than enough. There was after all delicate balance between fun and obnoxious. For now he wanted to prevent any actual revenge acts from the rest of the crew.

Naruto counted the days; they had been in little garden for a day, it had taken Naruto half of that same day to get there despite his incredible speed in human form. After leaving, it had taken them three days to find Drum kingdom in which Nami had also gotten very sick. They didn't quite stay until the fourth but it was close. And now they had been traveling for about six days. Vivi said they'd reach Alabasta within a week so that should be somewhere today or the next.

In total he'd already been on this boat for a week and three days now. 'Only four days left.' Naruto thought before he sighing deeply.

He was going to have to build up his resolve to leave this place then. Because once he left this warm place he'd have to go back to the cold again. He definitely wouldn't leave Robin. She was pretty much his all; family, partner and a necessity to fulfill his dream just like he was to hers. He was lost in thought until he heard an interesting conversation between the only two females on the ship.

"Crocodile is the hero of Alabasta?" Nami asked perplexed. 'Yeah that's the same reaction I had.' Naruto thought, watching her surprised expression. He couldn't believe the people in Alabasta believed in a pirate. Well now he couldn't really blame them as much. He was starting to trust these guys with his life. Sighing slightly he continued to listen.

"Crocodile is shichibukai, meaning he's an pirate affiliated with the marines. To the civilians whether the army prevents the attackers or Crocodile does, the gratitude they have doesn't change." Vivi explained calmly. Nami still looked doubtful but the cook standing next to them looked thoughtful.

"I get it.. So the people don't really expect that their hero would be trying to take over their country, do they?" He summarized. Vivi nodded solemnly.

"All we need to do is beat up that Crocodile!" Luffy declared in his usual happy go lucky mood while punching the empty air with enthusiasm. "Yeah, we just need to stop the rebellion and drive out the baroque workers to save my country." Vivi agreed tiredly, all that worrying must be exhausting.

"Wait how does this baroque works work anyway? What's with the Ms. and Mr.? And everything else?" Usopp joined in sitting down next to Naruto. The both of them were now leaning against the main mast in comfort.

Vivi turned to Usopp and started to explain. "The system is quite easy, at the top is mr. 0 who leads everything. Under him are the thirteen agents who take orders from him, twelve men, twelve woman, two animals and an irregular." She said.

"An irregular?" Sanji asked immediately but she waved him off politely. "I'll get to that in a minute. Each of the agents pair with female agents who compliment their powers and abilities. Mister 13 and Miss Friday are special because they punish the agents that break the rules. All agents from Mister 5 and down are called officer agents and most of them have eaten a devil fruit. They usually only act in important matters and every Billion is essentially under them.

"Below the officer agents are the frontier agents, Mister 6 and up. They are also technically a part of the Billions but on a slightly higher plateau. Only Mr. 0 and the officer agents are higher. They can command the Millions and their basic job is to raise money and funds for the organization."

"The billions and millions are those who joined but don't quite have the power to become an agent. The billions rank higher than the millions. These are the basics in this organization." She explained to them in a concise manner. You could easily see that Vivi had been intimately involved with Crocodile's little group. Not that Naruto didn't already know that. She didn't even know he'd been aware of her existence for over half a year now.

"What about Mister Black? He's a guy so why not a number?" Zoro who had apparently decided to join them instead of taking his usual nap. He stayed in his slightly distanced spot at the staircase but did raise his voice a little.

Vivi nodded once to the swordsman before turning back to face most of the group. "Yes, he's the irregular I just mentioned. He's almost always seen together with Miss All Sunday but he doesn't have a number. He's very strong but no one knows anything else about him, rumors say even Crocodile doesn't know who he is exactly!"

"His main job seems to be just like the unluckies, Mister Thirteen and Miss Friday, to punish those who break the rules. He's directly under Crocodile and knows who the man's identity, so the number agents see him as a part of the Unluckies on a higher plateau." She said very seriously.

"lots of people call him fox instead of Mister Black because he has the same job as the other unluckies who are animals and because he has whisker like scars on each of his cheeks." She finished promptly.

Naruto snickered a bit but managed to conceal it, he still thought that that comparison was hilarious. They didn't even know just how spot on that nickname actually was. He hadn't wanted to take an animal nickname because he thought it might draw attention to himself when he was in fox form, and yet they'd done it for him.

"Yeah, he did have those weird marks on his face, didn't he?" Usopp said causing a tick mark on Naruto's forehead. 'They're not weird, they're just different.' He thought indignantly. "So do you think we'll be seeing him there?" The liar continued.

"Yes, the plan to take over Alabasta is probably going to start soon. Crocodile will call every Officer Agent to him. Mister black and Miss All Sunday are the only ones who know the boss's identity at the moment so they will be there without a doubt." She said.

'They don't even know who is traveling with them.' Naruto thought.

Naruto stood up and left silently, not really wanting to hear any more about something he was already worrying about. "Naruto where are you going?" Chopper asked when he passed by him. Naruto just sighed a bit. "I'm going to sit under the mikan trees, I'm... I'm not feeling all that well at the moment. I think some sleep will help." He yipped as Chopper would understand anyway. Chopper nodded and turned back to the discussion though he was still glancing over his shoulders every few seconds.

Naruto walked up the stairs and moved onto the patch of grass on the ship where the mikan trees were being grown. He'd heard they were from Nami's hometown. He'd proven to her he wasn't going to steal them so he was allowed to sit there unlike Luffy. Besides he'd offered her to help protect them when he was near.

There were three of them planted next to each other in a row shielding the back of the ship. They were placed very close to one another, seeing past them wasn't quite possible. The bottom of each tree wasn't trimmed as neatly as the top, which provided a bit of privacy for Naruto when he wanted somewhere to lie down.

Naruto ducked and slipped under the tree, laying in the shadow as he watched the never ending horizon. After a while he slowly started drifting into a deep sleep. He did nothing to stop it.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Hey guys have you noticed how Naruto's been a bit down the last few days?" Chopper asked everyone on the deck when Naruto had left. They each nodded while Nami took over. "Yeah, I noticed. It's like he's been worrying about something." She added.

The rest agreed. "But what could it be, I don't think anything new has happened lately. Well except that we've been getting closer to Alabasta but that was the plan anyway." Usopp fidgeted with the fishing pole he'd grabbed, it was one of the ones Luffy had broken earlier that day.

"Yes, I don't know what Naruto-kun may be worried about, but I do think we should try to help." Vivi said wanting to help her friend.

Chopper and the rest all nodded once more, but of course it wasn't quite that simple. "Yeah, but I already tried to ask and only got a shrug, a shake of the head or him telling me nothing's wrong each time." Chopper told them thinking about his newly made friend.

"Yeah I've also tried to ask but got the same reaction." Luffy added. At that everyone's eyes widened in surprise, 'Even Luffy noticed? Must be bad then.' They all thought simultaneously. "What!" Luffy muttered when they all kept staring at him. They all just sighed deeply before Nami continued.

"So who has asked then?" She asked them. Everyone raised their hands into the air. She pointed to Chopper and asked him about what the fox had replied exactly. "Well, nothing really. He shrugged and told me he wasn't feeling well." He told them. "But he doesn't have a fever or anything I can see really, so I do think it isn't a medical problem." He added a bit panicked afterwards, thinking he'd just told them the fox could be seriously sick or something.

"Don't worry Chopper we know that." Vivi said. "But what are we gonna do then?" Zoro added in as well. The fox was annoying as hell, but well.. he did help with his injury.

They all thought for a moment until Luffy blurted out something strangely useful. "A PARTY!" He said excited at the idea of food. Sanji just shook his head, "No Luffy, we don't have any food for the party you're thinking of." He said while blowing on his cigarette.

Nami thought about that for a moment until she had the most brilliant idea, or rather Luffy did. She smirked and stood up. "you're right Luffy!" She exclaimed. Luffy just had another one of his blank look. "I am?" Nami just ignored him and continued in het excitement. "Yeah, we need to throw him a party! Not one with food cause obviously we don't have enough of that but just one to have fun and keep his mind off of things." She said proudly. One by one they all agreed.

They huddled together and she whispered the plan to them.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Naruto sighed for the thousandth time that day, really he knew worrying wouldn't change things. But he really couldn't keep his mind of it. One part of him wanted to leave this ship immediately, scared of betrayal, commitment and just plainly missing Robin's company. Yet another part of him wanted to stay here on the warm side as he'd come to call it. Somewhere he could relax and not have to worry about the world beyond the ocean. To have more moments of peace like this.

He stared out into the ocean not noticing the growing shadow next to him, until without a warning his vision turned black and he couldn't see anything. He started to panic but when he realized he could still move he calmed down. Feeling the fabric around his body and the musky smell of his surroundings.

He was in a sack wasn't he..

Naruto was about to try and escape when the heard sniggers of his captor. 'Luffy and Usopp. Not much of a surprise really, this crew is the only one to be able to catch me off guard after all.' He thought as he decided to see what would happen.

The sack he was in was roughly put on the ground. The movement caused him to roll out of the space of confinement and onto the deck of the Going Merry again. After a few more rolls he came to a stop. Shaking his head to clearing any of the dust from his fur coat he moved to sit in a more comfortable position.

In front of him was Nami dressed in a ridiculous outfit standing on a stage. "What's going on?" He wrote but Nami just smiled brightly before bowing once on stage.

"Welcome ladies and gentleman." He started said in her clown like outfit. It consisted of a blue with white polka dotted pair of mini shorts that had suspenders moving over her shoulders. She was wearing knee high white socks with huge black shoes that made her feet look bigger than they actually to the image was a yellow blouse with big white buttons holding it together. On her nose was the most important detail, a small round red clowns nose painted onto her own nose, finally there was a big flower in her hair as a last accessory. 'Where'd they get the clothes?' Naruto couldn't help but think.

"To this event, tonight we will be showing you each different talents we possess to get you, the guest, to enjoy yourself." She said a smooth movement pointing to the audience before moving to announce the first act. "Now up first we have Tony Tony Chopper with his specialized dance." Within a few steps she moved to the side of the podium to give Chopper his needed space.

The curtains on the mini stage, of which Naruto also had no idea as to where it came from, moved to the side to reveal Chopper standing there. He had chopsticks in his mouth that were poking up his nose to makes a real weird but funny face. He held up straw bowl like object and stood in the middle of the stage.

"Ah will fe fancing wike dis." The reindeer said with trouble. Naruto burst out in laughter as Chopper started to move with the bowl like object as if he was sifting gold. It looked really weird like that. The teen couldn't move his head down because of the sticks in his nose but his arms did move up and down to make complete the movement. After a couple of minutes of laughter from everyone that was watching, Nami, Naruto and everyone from behind the stage, Chopper was done and he left behind the curtain.

Next on stage was Usopp, he was dressed normally but he started to tell stories. At first it wasn't very interesting but after a while the stories started to get so ridiculous Naruto couldn't help but be amused and laugh. He didn't think it was his talent for lying alone that made it so funny. Usopp really did know how to describe things to their fullest potential. He managed to portray things as if they were actually there, it was just so easy to picture everything. He even had several object with him to depict the situation. After about ten minutes of telling his story Usopp finished, he did a ridiculous finishing bow, gave him his usual cocky grin and left the stage.

'I wonder what it is they're trying to do.' Naruto thought as he looked left. He could see everyone sneaking a peek at the other performances from behind the stage, but when they noticed him they all tried to move away. Mostly panicking and falling over one another. Naruto smiled when he saw Nami get mad at them for almost ruining the stage. When he turned back someone else was standing on the podium. Sanji had put all kinds of kitchen knives on the table.

"Normally I wouldn't do this sort of thing but this time it's an exception." He mumbled before he picked up each knife and flung them into the air. Naruto watched amazed as he began to catch and throw each and every knife with precision. 'The guy would make a great assassin of shinobi with precision like that.' He thought as he continued to stare in surprise. Sanji kept adding more knives into the mix as kept handling them as professionally as possible. At the end though he threw all of the knives to where Luffy and the guys were peeking again.

"No peeking! You'll ruin the surprise!" He yelled before he bowing to show he was done. 'I think the surprise was already ruined though.' Naruto thought amusedly.

Next on stage were Carue and Vivi, she told him she they were going to do tricks. But in the end it turned into a comedy show. Every time Vivi told Carue to do something he would do the opposite making every she tried to do with cool look very embarrassing. At the end of the show she was very red in the face while Naruto was once again rolling on the floor in laughter. It was amazing how Carue managed to turn 'sit' into 'run across deck as fast as you can'. That was definitely a talent right there.

Next on stage were Luffy and Zoro who decided to do a mock battle. Naruto thought it seemed interesting and watched with open eyes but when they destroyed the stage with only a couple of punches and slashes everyone intervened and put an end to the entire thing.

Nami just sighed as she looked at the ruined stage "Why does a simple idea always turn into a mess with YOU guys there!" She said as she hit Zoro and Luffy on the head. "Maa maa Nami-san I think it went quite well considering it is them." Vivi said quite boldly. While everyone agreed.

Naruto walked up to them. "What did you do this for anyway?" He asked curiously.

'Waah, Dense.' Everyone thought for a second before shaking the thought away. "Well.." Nami said looking away when Vivi stood up and took it over for her. "Naruto-kun we were worried about you." She said looking him right in the eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization as he looked over the destruction on the ship and back at the crew. 'They did all this for me?' He thought almost not believing it. "Lately you've seemed so down and you wouldn't tell us so we thought up an idea to cheer you up!" She explained. Naruto felt a really warm feeling spread through his body, he was happy. He was seriously happy. 'Shit' Naruto thought as he felt tears stream down his face.

"Naruto? What's wrong. Ooh we didn't do anything bad did we?" Vivi started to rant while everyone else was surprised. Naruto just shook his head as the tears continued to flow. "No, I'm just happy." He wrote. Vivi froze her rant and looked at him and everyone did the same. When they read the message they smiled. "Sorry for worrying you, you'll probably find out later what I was worrying about. But this was great! Thanks!" He said with a smile as the tears kept flowing out of his eyes. Everyone on deck smiled relieved and pat him on the head or the back. Naruto kept smiling but soon turned back to his playful self. "Hey, stop petting me I'm older than most of you!" He yelled not meaning even half of it.

'I'll just enjoy my time left with them, it'll make a great memory and I can't change this situation anyway. I'll make the best of it.' He thought as he chased Luffy and Usopp on the deck. 'Just a little while longer.'

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

They were nearly in Alabasta, the weather was slowly stabilizing. Luffy and Usopp were fishing while Luffy was slowly eating the bait. 'Disgusting..' Naruto couldn't help but think every time he saw it happen.

"Luffy stop eating the bait, we don't have any other food and we have to catch fish!" Usopp said as he hit Luffy on the back of his head for the thousandth time that day. "But you were eating it too!" Luffy yelled back. Usopp sighed, "but that was on the lid." He said as if that explained everything. Naruto watched as they slowly ate up the bait leaving nothing to use behind.

Desperate Luffy and Usopp eventually tied Carue to the fishing pole and dangled him above the ocean. "Usopp-san have you caught any fish?" Vivi asked when she came by later, she moved towards them before noticing just what it was they were fishing with. "AAAAH CARUE!" She yelled. "What are you doing to Carue!" She exclaimed as she hit the both of them had on the heads. But before she freed Carue something caught her eye and she left without even helping him. 'This crew really needs to shape up.' Naruto thought with a sweat drop and a grin.

After Luffy and Usopp got back up with bumps on their heads they just continued to fish with Carue still as bait. Carue just comically cried as he saw no escape from the two idiots.

After a few minutes of just sitting there again Naruto saw a small pull on the fishing pole, he jumped down from where he was watching and joined Luffy and Usopp where they were. "Hey I think you caught something." He wrote to them.

"Ehh, really? Pull up Luffy. We've finally caught something!" Usopp yelled excitedly. But as soon as they pulled up the duck they saw they hadn't actually caught something, it was more of a found someone type of situation. All three of them stared at the catch while it just stared back.

Clutching the duck was a very peculiar guy. His face was littered with heavy make-up even though he was obviously a guy, well Naruto hoped for him he was a guy. It looked as if some kid had decided to use his face to experiment on. He was also wearing a sphere like ballerina tutu, although much to Naruto's delight it wasn't a skirt, it was entirely round thus covering everything from his thighs to his hips. He was also wearing a very colorful blouse on top of that he wore a white coat with two swan heads and wings on the back. On the back it said "Okama way".

'Mr. 2!' Naruto thought surprised. 'Why is he here? wasn't he supposed to be going to a gathering in Alabasta at the pub? Ooh wait that's still a few days away. Was he here then take care of the Strawhats? No, if he was he wouldn't be hanging onto a duck. Or just generally in the water really.' Naruto's thoughts rambled on.

"Aaaah, an okama!" Usopp and Luffy yelled. The guy was surprised and let go of the duck and fell into the water. Only after he yelled that he couldn't swim did Luffy and Usopp help him, much to Naruto's dismay. He never really hated Mr. 2, he was despite his quarks a very loyal person. Naruto just wouldn't chance it, it could just be an act, he didn't know the guy well enough. He would have to watch him carefully for now then.

"Thank you very much, I was saved by pirates I don't even know. I'm eternally thankful." He said politely as he gave them a short bow. "Now may I have a cup of soup?" He added rudely. 'Suppose we have another strange character in our midst.' Naruto sighed.

"NO!" Everyone yelled simultaneously. "We're hungry too." Zoro stated. Mr. 2 just continued to look around as if he hadn't asked anything at all. His eyes stopped at Vivi as he winked at her disgustingly. "Hey, aren't you a cutie. I'd like to gobble you up~" He tried to flirt. Keyword; tried.

Vivi just politely thanked him for the odd compliment but the disgust was clear on her face. 'What a weird guy.' Naruto just thought as he growled a little at the guy. "Hehe so you can't swim either?" Luffy asked him. Mr.2 just sighed and nodded. "I ate a devil fruit." he said.

This seemed to interest Usopp as he asked which one, the man stood up from his crouched position and stretched. "Well. Since I have to wait for my ship I guess I can put up a show." He said smiling. Naruto just growled a bit deeper, but kept it low enough too not pull the attention towards himself.

'Wait a minute this guy's fruit was!' He thought as his eyes widened.

Mr. 2 rose his hand and slammed it straight into Luffy face hitting him into the ground, everyone immediately took on battle stances and Zoro had even drawn his weapons. Naruto was the quickest thought he'd already bitten the guys feet. "OOOW, wait wait! This is all part of the show." He grimaced revealing his face that he had been hiding behind his hands. To everyone's surprise they were looking at Luffy's face. When they realized what had happened everyone calmed down and Naruto had no choice but to let go as well. 'well at least that's one face they already knew!' He thought slightly relieved.

"Ow my feet." The okama muttered as he rubbed the bite marks Naruto left on him, they weren't bleeding but were still pretty deep. But he quickly shook of the pain and smiled widely and maybe even a bit crazed.

"Touch the right to change and left to change back. That is the power of the mane mane no mi!" He exclaimed. He casually walked past everyone touching their faces except for Sanji who was in the kitchen, Carue who was nowhere to be soon and Vivi who was standing up the stairs. Naruto couldn't stop the guy verbally but as soon as he reached him he bit the hand and bit it hard until this time some blood poured out. 'Touch me and you'll regret it.' He thought harshly.

"OW, what is with you fox! What did I ever do to you?" He said as he began to comically cry. Luffy and Usopp who couldn't help but find the guy hilarious started to agree. "Yeah Naruto, what was that for!" They said.

Naruto just huffed and turned his head away, a growl still rumbling softly in the back of his throat. Instincts weren't easily pushed aside after all. Vivi, Nami and Zoro noticed his odd behavior but didn't comment on it.

"Well anyway, I can turn into anyone I've ever touched on face." He said showing as he turned into each of them, as the last one he turned into Nami and opened his/her shirt. "and bodies too!" He said in a slightly perverted manner. Usopp, Luffy and Chopper just had big googly eyes as they saw but only Usopp really noticed what a guy should. Chopper just seemed surprised and Luffy was probably emulating Usopp in a manner. If the guy ever managed fell in love he'd eat his own shoes.

Nami noticed of course and hit the guy in the head hard.

Not wanting to make Nami mad Mr. 2 turned back. "I'm sorry but that's all I can show y-" But he got cut off by cheering from Usopp, Chopper and Luffy. "You're awesome!" "Show us more." They yelled inflating Mr. 2's ego. "Okay, I'll show you!" He said. The Okama showed them all kinds of faces, ugly ones, big ones, thin ones until he passed the king of Alabasta's face.

'The idiot.' Naruto thought, 'Showing Vivi the head of her father, even just showing a random person someone famous like that is stupid.' And as he had expected Vivi had noticed as well. 'Well at least they'll know who he is now.' He thought relieved.

As soon as they were done showing and looking at the faces they started dancing together for some reason. All of them singing, "Stop joking around!" In a rhythm. Nami who had enough of them after a few minutes started to mutter and wonder when they would stop.

After Nami had started muttering Naruto smelled something, he turned into the direction and saw a ship approaching. He nudged Nami and pointed towards the ship.

"Hey isn't that your ship?" She asked pulling the Mr. 2's attention to her. The guy followed her gaze and recognized his ship approaching.

Jumping onto the railing of the ship with his back the okama turned his head to them. "Oh my, is it already time to leave? Too bad." He said while Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were crying. "But don't be sad, my babies! Separation is inevitable. Don't forget me~!" He cried exuberantly. "Length of time means nothing to true friendship!" He said touched by his own words, he stuck up his thumb and waved to them. "We'll see you again!" Luffy yelled. Mr.2 jumped onto the ship and told his crew to head out.

'the guy probably seriously thought everything he just did looked cool.' Naruto stoically watched the guy board his own ship. 'Well considering Luffy, Usopp and Chopper they might have actually thought so..'

"Let's go lovies!" He yelled at them, they all went to their posts. "yes! Mr. 2 Bon Clay-sama." They replied as their ship's paddles started to spin rapidly. Within a minute they had taken quite the distance from the Going Merry. Which considering the state of shock the crew was in, was quite a good thing.

"MR.2!" Almost everyone yelled simultaneously when he was out of sight.

"Vivi didn't you recognize his face?" Luffy asked slightly more serious now. Vivi bowed to them and apologized. "Sorry, I never met the Mr. 1 pair and Mr. 2." She said. "But I did hear rumors about him that he was a huge okama, talking like one and that he wore a swan outfit with okama way written on the back!" She realized suddenly.

"Realize that sooner." everyone deadpanned at her mistake. Vivi suddenly dropped to her knees worrying everyone as she looked to the ground, her fists clenched in frustration. "One of the faces he showed was my father! What in the world would he use it for!" She asked desperately.

"Well you could do a lot of damage with the body of the king." Zoro said seriously. Usopp nodded. "So we just let a dangerous enemy go." He summarized surprisingly accurate. Chopper seemed to finally understand that the guy they had just befriended was in fact an enemy and joined in on the conversation. "So that guy was an enemy?" He asked in confirmation while Naruto nodded at him. "Yeah, turns out he's Mr. 2."

Nami looked up from where she was helping Vivi get up. "He will be dangerous if he's really our enemy. With his power we won't be able to trust each other."

"Well.." Zoro said smirking gaining everyone's attention. "I think it's lucky we met him now that we know his powers we can counter it." He said wisely. He motioned for the rest to come closer before explaining his idea to everyone.

Later that day they finally arrived at Alabasta as they watched the shore coming closer. Zoro told everyone to put the plan into action, each and every one of them tied a piece of white cloth to their left arm as if it were wounded. Under the piece of cloth was a cross, Zoro had explained to them that they would show each other what's under the cloth when asked for identification. As no one but them knew what was under the cloth Mr. 2 wouldn't be able to copy it. Even Carue, Naruto and Chopper had a piece of cloth on their left arm with the cross drawn under it.

After everyone was done they gathered on the deck, Sanji had been explained about Mr. 2 and warned of his power.

"We're coming up the harbor! Let's stop at that inlet to the west, we have to hide the ship." Vivi said pointing to a place a bit of distance away from the harbor. Luffy called them all together as they slowly drifted towards the land of Alabasta.

"Ok everyone whatever happens, this left arm.." their captain said gaining their attention. He grinned and held out his left arm everyone doing the same as they formed a circle. "Is the proof of our friendship!" He said proudly. "Now let's get onto dry land!" He ended it as he walked away other people following.

Naruto and Vivi both lagged slightly on the rest as they each stared at the piece of cloth tied on their arms. Vivi took her arm in her other hand and smiled at the proof of their friendship as she too walked away.

Naruto stared at it for a bit longer. 'Proof of friendship huh.. Only two days left.' He thought a bit sadly.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

They hadn't set foot on Alabasta for long, before Luffy was off searching for a restaurant. Eventually everyone had decided they wouldn't find him anyway so they started to gather provision for the journey through the desert.

They entered the town Nanohana and visited various shops buying many things as well as clothing more suited to the terrain. Sanji bought dancer dresses for Nami and Vivi who quite liked them despite the fact they weren't really meant for the desert.

Chopper and Naruto where having trouble walking through the city, Chopper was in reindeer form and Naruto walked next to him. They drew quite a bit of attention as a reindeer and large sized fox walking together in a very hot country. But the biggest problem was the smell! Everything smelled like perfume and Naruto and Chopper couldn't take it. It was so incredibly potent! Eventually after shopping for a while everyone had taken distance from the market which relieved them a bit.

Sanji smirked as he watched Zoro drink a new flask filled with alcohol in his new clothing. "Heh, even disguised you still look like a pirate." He said trying to rile him up again. 'Seriously is it their hobby or something to compete?' Naruto thought while he lay next to Chopper holding his nose.

"Huh watcha doin Chopper, Naruto?" Usopp asked while he was eating some meat. Naruto just squeezed his nose while Chopper answered for the both of them. "My nose is going to fall off!" He said. Usopp didn't really get it but Vivi interrupted. "Ooh, the both of you must have very sensitive noses! Nanohana is very famous for their perfume." Vivi explained while Usopp seemed to understand now.

"There are extremely powerful ingredients in it." Vivi continued but before she could continue Nami interrupted with a big smirk on her face.

"Ooh you mean like this one?" She asked sweetly before spraying some of her recently bought perfume onto herself and into the air causing both Chopper and Naruto to cringe. "Aaah stop it!" Chopper yelled as Naruto joined in by barking, "crazy woman!" He was aware enough not to write it down though. The insult wasn't worth Nami's insult.

After everyone was done fooling around they got back to business as Vivi explained what the plan was. "We've got enough rationing and materials to make the journey through the dessert. Our First and foremost goal is to reach Yuba. I want to start by stopping the rebellion and their base is there." She explained to them. "To go to Yub-" but before she could continue she was pulled to the side by Zoro and behind an old building. "Hide." he said urgently. Immediately everyone moved to join the both of them behind the old building that they had been next to.

"Marines! What are they doing here." Zoro said as he looked around the corner. A whole army of marines was running around the city chasing something. "Sheesh what a ruckus. Did they find a pirate or something.." Zoro muttered lowly before they saw Luffy run past.

'Of course!' everyone thought immediately. Mostly wondering why they hadn't assumed that to be the case. Luffy and trouble seemed to be synonymous after all.

Suddenly Luffy noticed them and being the idiot he was started to wave them. He even yelled alerting the marines to their presence. "Hey Zoro!" Everyone tried to run away as the marines moved started towards them. "Idiot at least lose them firs!" He exclaimed as everyone ran away.

"There they are, get them!" They heard the marines yell behind them as they continued to give chase. "Get back men!" Naruto suddenly heard someone yell from behind, he looked and saw a big man chasing after them. He had snow white hair and was smoking on a cigar. He was wearing only a coat with lots of cigars hooked onto the straps and stored in the pockets. The coat was mostly white with green rims on the shoulders. The man was also wearing a pair of blue jeans with a brown belt. On his back was a large jutte.

"I won't let you escape straw hat!" He yelled as his arms turned to smoke and one of his gloved hands shot forward in a smoke covered punch. "WHITE BLOW!" He yelled as the attack headed towards Luffy at high speed.

Naruto thought Luffy would be hit but suddenly they heard a yell. "KAGEROU!" As the attack was intercepted by a huge amount of flames. When the smoke cleared standing there was another guy standing near them. He was wearing an orange cowboy hat with lots of trinkets, no shirt and a huge tattoo on his back.

'Whitebeard' Naruto thought as he saw the mark. Other than that the man was wearing a pair of brown shorts to the knees with lots of pockets and also a necklace that consisted of giant red beads.

"What do you want?" The smoking guy said. "Cut it out." The younger guy answered as he stood in the man's way. "You may be smoke but I'm fire. Your powers against mine wouldn't get us anywhere." The guy said arrogantly while smiling. Everyone was wondering who he was and why he helped them but that question was soon answered for a part.

"Ace?" Luffy muttered. "You haven't changed a bit Luffy." Ace said smiling back at them. "Luffy we can't talk like this so you guys go get to the boat, I'll catch up later." He said. Luffy just nodded and told his crew to go back to the ship.

As Luffy ordered everyone left and ran to where they had docked the ship, Naruto glanced back once more and saw a huge amount of smoke and flames burst out above the roofs from where they had just been before.

"Get on the ship? Weren't we traveling by dessert?" Usopp asked as they all ran carrying the supplies. Vivi ran next to Usopp. "No, We only came to Nanohana to get supplies. We're going to go up the river before we'll enter the dessert." She explained briefly. The rest just nodded as they kept on running through the alleys. "Man I never thought I'd meet Ace here." Luffy grinned happily. "Yeah Luffy, who is he?" Naruto wrote, at which everyone turned their heads to Luffy wanting to know the answer.

"Ace? He's my brother." Luffy said.

It took a few seconds before the words registered in their minds. "EEEEEH, YOUR BROTHER!?" They all yelled while Luffy just grinned. "Yeah!" They all sighed they should have expected something like this.

They kept on running and soon the boat came in sight, everyone entered hurriedly and got ready to leave. Vivi called Carue to her. "Carue I've got an important message I need you to deliver to my father." She asked seriously. Carue saluted and Vivi smiled tying the letter to his robe. "Tell my father I'm ok and that I have strong friends ok?" She asked him as Carue got ready to leave. "Conserve your water in the dessert ok?" She said wisely.

Carue got up and ran into the dessert stopping not even ten meters away to drink. "I SAID CONSERVE YOUR WATER!" Vivi yelled exasperatedly at the duck as he left. Sighing a little she entered the ship and they left up river to the other side of the dessert.

"So he's your brother?" Sanij asked Luffy a second times after having beat him up for trying to drink their precious water. Luffy was sitting on the railing of their boat still rubbing his soar head. "Yeah, he's searching for one piece. He's three years older so he left earlier than me." He explained.

"Wow, but what are the odds of both siblings eating a devil fruit?" Sanji said amazed by both siblings. "Haha, yeah I was surprised too. I couldn't win once against him even before he had eaten a devil fruit." He said casually all the while laughing.

"Not once?" Nami repeated perplexed. "Against a regular human?" She muttered unbelievingly. Luffy just kept grinned. "Yeah, but now I could beat him." Luffy boasted puffing up his chest with pride. Not even seconds after he said that a shadow descended on them, or rather Luffy, as Ace used Luffy's face as stepping stone to enter the boat.

"Who could best who?" He said smirking at Luffy.

"ACE!" Luffy said happily when he finally got away from under the foot of his brother. "Yo!" Ace replied still crouched on the railing of the boat with Luffy next to him. Then he turned to face the rest of them and did a small bow. Well as much as he could for someone still crouching on the railing of a ship. "Everyone thank you for taking care of my idiot brother." He said in an extremely polite manner.

"No kidding." They all replied without a bit of shame at their honest yet rude answer.

'Woah what a difference in attitude…' Naruto thought as he watched both brothers, his eyes rested on ace as he studied him. 'Hmm so he controls fire maybe he can give me some tips on how to improve my fox fire.' He thought for a moment. He'll see how everything goes.

"Na Luffy, will you come join the Whitebeard pirates? Of course you and your crew?" He asked abruptly. Without a moment's hesitation Luffy replied with his own abrupt answer. "No." Ace laughed for a bit at the usual reaction before sighing slightly. The grin didn't leave his face though. "Yeah thought so, just wanted to ask." He said.

"Whitebeard!?" Usopp said surprised. "THAT Whitebeard?" Ace's grin just widened as he nodded. "Yeah, he's the greatest man I've ever met. I decided to make him pirate king, not you Luffy!" He said smirking while taunting his little brother.

Luffy returned the gesture with a blinding smile. "Don't care, just one more person to beat up." He stated confidently. Sanji stood up from where he was sitting. "Why don't you come in, you can talk and I'll put up some tea." But Ace shook his head.

"Here." He threw a piece of paper to Luffy. "This is what I wanted to give you." Luffy examined it but it looked like nothing more than a piece of paper. "Paper?" He asked. Ace just laughed. "You don't want it?" But Luffy just shook his head. "No I'll keep it." He said determined as held on to it. "That paper will help us meet again!" Ace told him like a wise old man, he didn't really look like one though. Despite being more rough around the edges he still had that same relaxed attitude Luffy had.

He turned to the rest of the group. "Having a younger brother makes the older brother worry. I bet he's caused you trouble before but please take care of him." He asked of them seriously. He jumped down to his little boat he had apparently parked there.

"Aaah, you're leaving already?" Luffy said childishly. Ace smiled. "Not if you don't want me to yet, but first I'll take care of them." He said pointing to four ships that sailed up to them. "Billions!" Vivi exclaimed.

Ace's legs turned to fire as he pumped it into his ship. 'A ship that moves on fire? Interesting.' Naruto thought. He left at an incredible speed as he raced towards the ships.

"Let's see the power of a member of the Whitebeard pirates." Zoro said interested.

They watched as Ace approached the ships, but before he actually reached any on them he jumped an incredible height. He flew over all four of the main masts. Halfway the trip he began shooting out fire to stay in the air while his ship disappeared underwater. When he reached the other side of all the ships the billions were on his own ship resurfaced and he landed on it. He turned it around and began to charge his fists. Only moments later he turned the attack at the ships. "HIKEN!" He yelled as huge amount of flames poured out of his fists crushing every one of the ships, leaving nothing but rubble and wood adrift.

Everyone on the ship was staring at the display of power. "Amazing." They all muttered as he sailed back to their ship.


	16. An interesting meeting and farewell

**Chapter 16**

 **Omoshiroi deai to tsurai wakare**

After Ace had taken down those ships on his own, he had joined them once again on the Going Merry. He briefly explained the reason as to why he was in Alabasta. According to his story the pirate who goes by the name Blackbeard, the same one they'd heard about in Alabasta, was once a member of the second division of the Whitebeard pirates.

The famous pirate crew of one of the strongest pirates on the planet, Edward Newgate also known as Whitebeard. They are seen as a major threat by the world government and have connection all over the world. According to the marines they are ruthless, terrible pirates. But Naruto had met a few members before, for pirates they were extremely loyal to their nakama. Though they did not care much for anything outside of their circle.

They were not the type to plunder without cause though, well that's what he heard through the vine though.

It is said that Whitebeard wanted to create his own family and as such they had a single unspoken rule that when broken was unforgivable. And Blackbeard had broken it.

The man had killed a member of the crew and ran.

Ace as commander of the second division had taken up the job to chase him down and as the man had been sighted in Yuba, Ace made his way for Alabasta.

"So you really didn't get my message?" The older brother tried to confirm once more. 'That's the second time he's mentioned a letter.' Naruto pondered, maybe they had missed something when they were on Drum?

After Luffy confirmed that their meeting here was a stroke of good luck they invited Ace to join them on the journey to Yuba. They were after all traveling in the same direction and Luffy obviously wanted some time with his brother.

But of course you nothing could stay peaceful for long, whether it was a fight, Zoro's antics or Luffy and Usopp together.

Naruto was now watching Luffy and Usopp play with their food, apparently they hadn't grown up enough to realize that food wasn't for playing. Monsters in different shapes and sizes were being created on their plates. Considering Usopp's artistic prowess his works were a lot more recognizable than those of Luffy. His was more like two round onigiri on top of one another?

Oh a snowman. 'Well for the captain that's pretty good actually.' Naruto snorted.

Now usually he would enjoy watching the two teens get into trouble. Maybe even help depending on the situation. But it was getting quite annoying now with all the food sticking out of his fur coat and the loud noises Luffy and Usopp were making.

"Need any help?!" He could hear Ace ask Sanji as he was preparing food, Sanji just smiled politely before turning to face him.

"No you're a guest here, I'll handle it." He said professionally. Sanji clearly had his pride when considering his cooking. Ace nodded amicably and watched the cook work. The knives smoothly flowed from the food to the board on which Sanji was working. It was almost a treat in itself to watch the blonde work. His skills really were something to be admired.

Naruto was trying the interaction peacefully but his irritation was growing by the minute. By now food was actually making its way through the air in his vicinity. And what had been a conversation between Luffy and Usopp evolved into a full out fight. Only the physical aspect of a fight was not yet there.

Ace seemed to notice his predicament but slightly too late. Naruto had had enough and used his chakra chains to bind them up and threw them in the corner. "Sanji, it's okay to leave them there if I do the dishes right?" He wrote in an almost desperate manner, not quite caring about anything else. He only wanted a bit of peace and quiet at the moment. Well as much as could be on this ship anyhow.

Ace just seemed surprised at what the fox could do.

"Yeah that's okay with me, those two idiots were also annoying me. If you hadn't interfered I would have." Sanji said grinning, while he watched the two idiots squirm.

"Aahh Naruto, come on let us go. I don't wanna be stuck here!" Luffy yammered loudly. "It's your own fault!" Naruto wrote ignoring the idiots.

He walked over to the dished and got out his chakra chains. How else was he going to wash the dishes? He didn't fancy using his tongue. Ugh. He picked up the plates with the chains careful not to break them while his tails wrapped in a towel to dry the plates.

"You're interesting aren't ya?" He suddenly heard from beside him. He looked to see Ace standing next to him, without having noticed him. 'Yep Luffy's brother alright.' Naruto thought sweat dropping, he nearly let go of the plate but managed to recover in time. "Why?" Naruto wrote back after he'd readjusted his grip.

Ace just stared for a bit before answering with a grin. "Why not? It's not every day that I see a fox that can write in the air with fire and controls chains like they're made of air!" He said making his point. Naruto nodded briefly and returned to the dishes.

"So I was curious but how did Luffy get a fox and a reindeer to join his crew?" He asked Naruto. The fox just sighed before he turned to Sanji nodded in understanding. If he wasn't so goofy Sanji would probably be the smartest on this crew. "I'll explain it, bit hard for him to with only the writing thing." The blonde said pointing to Naruto. Naruto was still doing the dishes and didn't really feel like concentrating on three different things. He'd just let Sanji explain for him.

"On little garden Naruto ended up helping us out. I wasn't really with everyone when it happened but apparently Naruto felt he had a debt to vivi and decided to help them. Luffy invited him to the crew afterwards to which he refused but Vivi, Nami and Zoro wouldn't let him go. You could say he was kind of forced to agree." Sanji explained while cooking and finishing up the bento's. Naruto grumbled a bit at the last part while Ace just started to laugh brightly. "Yeah that's typical Luffy, but I didn't expect that from those two girls though. They didn't seem like the type to do that. That green haired guy also doesn't really seem like someone who would bother with something like that." He said.

"Yeah, it was funny." Sanji said smiling and grinning at Naruto who was still yipping and muttering about that. It took a moment but soon the cook was scowling again. "And I don't really know what that Marimo is thinking anyway." As if trying to shake away a foul thought he shook his head once before continuing the story.

"But anyway Chopper we met at Drum Kingdom, he was a doctor that helped Dr. Kureha who helped Nami when she was seriously ill. Luffy once again chased him to the end of the world until he joined. Though after a little pushing Chopper was more than glad to join." He said.

"Hmmm." Ace murmured, "That definitely sounds like Luffy, soo what do you guys think about this whole thing with Crocodile?" He said casually bringing up the subject, well as subtle as a stampede really. Sanji and Naruto looked up from their spots with blank faces, not quite understanding what he meant.

Ace laughed unabashed at having been caught prying into the subject. "I mean isn't it suspicious that crocodile is trying to take over an entire country, he's a pirate! There's no way he could stay put in one place!" He was making hand gestures to make his point.

"Hmmm, I guess that's true. But what are you suggesting?" Sanji said as he finished the bento's and started to clean up the kitchen. 'Smart guy..' Naruto thought as he listened to Ace's deduction. Maybe he got all the brains in the family?

"I think there's more to it than the eye sees." Ace said cryptically. Sanji had a thoughtful look but didn't inquire any further, Naruto just kept an eye on Ace.

He finished up the dishes, put them in the cupboard and finished cleaning everything up. Usopp and Luffy who were still in the corner grumbling about being bored, were released and they ran outside as fast as they could. Naruto snickered a bit as he followed them outside.

"Everyone we're going to dock here, so it's time to get ready to leave!" Nami yelled to all of them from outside as they slowly gathered on deck. Everyone started to do their own jobs so they could dock the Merry Go safely in the desert. Despite the chaos that this group was they were surprisingly adept at teamwork. Within no time the Merry Go was safely docked at shore safely.

"Hey, is it really that warm in the dessert?" Chopper asked Vivi as he slid down the railing of the stairs. She smiled at him as she held onto a bag.

"Yes it can go up to 50 degrees in a dessert." She told him with a grin. "50 DEGREES?!" Chopper exclaimed in surprise. 'That is very hot. How have I not thought of this before.' Naruto thought lamenting the fact. Traveling as a human really wasn't comparable to what he felt as a fox. Sure as a human his senses were definitely also top notch, but he wouldn't feel heat the same way without his fur coat. He really hoped it didn't get that hot or Chopper and he would be having some serious problems out there.

"HEY WHAT'S THAT?!" Usopp and Luffy suddenly yelled pointing down to the bits of rocks and land besides the Merry Go. There was movement in the water. Everyone moved to the side of the boat to see what had them so interested. "Kung-fu dugongs!" Vivi exclaimed.

The animal was similar to a seal with the shell of a turtle around it's body. 'Weird' Naruto thought as he watched them talk. "If you want to stay here you'll have to beat me! You cowards." One said as it moved in front of the others. 'Probably the leader..' Naruto thought as everyone watched. Chopper told them what the kung-fu dugong had said and surprisingly Usopp was the one who jumped off the ship first to confront them.

"Hoho, Usopp-sama will show you who's boss!" He said arrogantly. "Wait Usopp-san!" Vivi yelled but it was too late, not even seconds later Usopp was on the ground beaten up as the kung-fu dugong flexed its muscles to show them who's boss. "Kung-fu dugong are strong!" Vivi said cried comically as she watched Usopp lie half dead on the ground.

"But there's someone here who won!" Nami said pointing to Luffy who was standing over one of the dugong victorious. But Vivi just paled even further. "No, don't win! That's even worse. Whoever loses must become the disciple of the winner that is the code of the kung-fu dugong." She explained in a hurried manner. It was too late though. Luffy who hadn't been listening had increased the amount of disciples he had by the dozens. The captain seemed to take everything in stride as he started to do stretch exercises with the dugong and yelled loudly together with them.

After a few minutes it seemed the numbers only continued to grow and the resident navigator could no longer take the noise her captain was making. She took the most logical and easy route, she hit Luffy on the head.

"You idiot, how are we supposed to take all of them with us!" She yelled. Luffy just pouted while all the dugong tried to take advantage of their animals traits, namely the puppy dog eyes. Desperately holding on to their leader Luffy, their stared at both Nami and Vivi with big bright eyes full of tears.

It didn't take very long before even Nami's feelings were disturbed by the picture they'd made together with the captain. Nami and Vivi suddenly felt very guilty. "Ne, what am I supposed to do I suddenly feel like the bad guy." Nami whispered to Vivi who nodded heavily. "Yeah, they're just soo… so cute.."

Chopper and Naruto glanced at one another and had a great idea, the both of them searched the packs for some food and took out a piece of meat and some onigiri. "Here why don't you take this and go back?" Naruto yipped. Chopper nodded and added in his own two cents. "Yeah, traveling in the dessert isn't good for you." The dugong grabbed the food and turned to leave though not without a sad goodbye to Luffy. They spent another ten minutes trying to make Luffy hurry up with the goodbyes.

You'd think they been together for years.

After finally having separated the dugong from Luffy they were able to leave and started to travel into the dessert, but not before they made sure the boat was entirely safe and docked.

"Why couldn't I take them with me?" Luffy pouted. Nami who was walking next to him glared a bit before sighing deeply. "If we'd take them with us we wouldn't be able to enter any city, you idiot." She said. "Really! If chopper and Naruto hadn't convinced them, we would have never gotten away from them!" Chopper and Naruto nodded. "Yeah they kept saying. 'We'll follow you everywhere' Without the food we wouldn't have been able to get them to leave." Chopper added.

Ace sighed. "Lots of trouble heh isn't he, my little brother." He said to Sanji walking next to him. "Yeah." The cook said, not sugar-coating his answer at all.

After walking for less than half an hour they reached a very old looking village. Looking down the hill there really wasn't much to see. Everything was dried out and the houses didn't look like they'd been lived in recently. Maybe not even at all.

"Is this Yuba?" Luffy asked.

Vivi just shook her head. "No, this is Elumaru. The city of green." She said. Everyone looked down at the former city, everything was dead. The houses were broken, the trees were dried out and there was no person in sight. "City of green?" Nami asked but Vivi just stayed quiet and started to move down the hill, while everyone followed her in silence.

They slowly entered the village and started to pass through watching every bit they walked past. "Iyaaaah, there's really nothing here." Luffy said insensitive to what Vivi was feeling, Nami hit him on the head slightly as she watched to see how Vivi was feeling.

"Yes." She said sadly. "But it wasn't always like this. Quite recently this city used to be flourishing with greenery and people." She explained to them shocking them. "This city originally already barely had any rain. But by gathering all the water they could, in the few times it did rain they managed to grow and keep the city alive. But in the last three years it hasn't rained once in almost all of Alabasta." She kept explaining as everyone listened.

"Having no rain is even in Alabasta something that hasn't happened in over a thousand years. But even then there was always one place it rained in Alabasta, and that was the capitol city Alubarna. Where the king lives. It was called the king's miracle until a certain event." She said. "Event?" Zoro repeated, Vivi nodded and turned to face them as she stopped walking.

"One day at the harbour a group of people were carrying a giant load of the ship. But the wheel on the cart broke and the entire load fell onto the ground. The giant bags on it broke and powder poured out. People came closer to see if everyone was alright and they found out the powder was dance powder." She explained while clenching her fists.

"Dance powder?!" Nami said surprised. "You know it Nami?" Usopp asked her, the navigator nodded in an almost glum manner and started to explain. "I've only heard of it but it's also called the rain calling powder. It's supposed to artificially call up rain." She said.

"But isn't that a good thing?" Usopp asked her. But Nami just shook her head and continued. "The powder forcefully makes a cloud grow and produce rain but by doing that the rain will fall earlier. Causing the place that was supposed to get rain to fall dry. When the powder was only just made wars were started because of countries stealing rain from one another. Eventually the world government put a ban on the powder to prevent these wars." Vivi nodded and turned back to the dried out city.

"The mass quantities of dance powder that were found at the harbour in Alubarna caused people to start distrusting the king. They believed that the king's miracle wasn't a miracle but just him deceiving them all." Vivi said.

"SO YOU'RE DAD IS THE BAD GUY" Luffy suddenly yelled. 'Really this guy..' Naruto sighed. The captain probably hadn't even registered most of the story. Everyone just sighed at the usual stupidity while Sanji hit him on the head multiple time saying how Vivi's dad wouldn't do something like that.

Vivi nodded sadly. "Of course my father didn't know a thing about where the dance powder came from. But around the same time a mass amount of dance powder was also found inside the castle." She explained.

"So they had accomplices inside the castle." Zoro added. "Couldn't they just draw water out of the river we just sailed on?" Zoro continued. Vivi shook her head before pointing to a place in the distance. In the city a big long canal had been dug out, but it was entirely dry, no water to be seen. "This is where the water from Sandora river gathered, they could draw water here if needed. But it was destroyed by someone unknown. Without the river people couldn't sustain life here." She said.

"After that event people started to have less trust in the king, slowly they started to rebel until the fighting finally broke out." She continued her voice a little unstable. "People tried to avoid the fighting and started to migrate to other oasis abandoning cities. Slowly the cities started to die and the city of green also ended." She said looking over the city, a slight glaze had covered her eyes. Naruto couldn't quite hold back the guilt he was feeling. This girl, this woman really didn't deserve what they were doing to her country, to her people.

His ears lowered slightly and he took a few steps away from the princess without anyone noticing.

Suddenly the wind increased and voices started to vibrate through the city, the sounds were loudly heard by all of them as the city started to cry. "What is that?" Everyone started to panic thinking that there was an army coming, but Ace quickly quieted them down. "It's just the wind, it vibrates in the old buildings causing these sounds." He said quietly. Everyone listened and watched.

It was almost as if the dead city seemed sad. "The city is crying." Vivi said quietly as they all listened.

As the wind started to pick up a giant tornado made its way through the city, they all ducked and waited for it to pass as they shut their eyes. Slowly the tornado passed over them and eventually they stood up again. It was only moments later when Luffy suddenly started to run into the city.

Naruto watched to see where he was going when he saw a familiar form on the ground. "A person!" Nami gasped as she ran after Luffy, Vivi followed behind her. "I can't believe there's still a person living in a place like this." The princess panicked. But when they got there she fell to her knees in shock, the only person that was there on the ground was the skeleton of someone who had died there. Her face paled as she leaned forward towards the skeleton.

She held her arms out and touched the skull of the skeleton. Gently she picked it up and held it's forehead against her own. Closing her eyes she was silent for a moment in respect for the dead.

"What has my father done?" She whispered after a moment. "What have my father and all of my people ever done to deserve this? They are born in the dessert, fight nature to stay alive while trying to be happy. Ruining their lives, what right does crocodile have to do this?" She said shaking with sadness and anger. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THAT MAN!" A few tears made their way into the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly they heard a huge sound behind them as one of the biggest buildings there collapsed, walking towards them were Sanji, Luffy and Zoro. Out of frustration they had attacked the building. "Oi Vivi let's go, I'm getting all twitchy thinking about that guy." Luffy yelled.

Vivi nodded determined. She started to dig a hole to bury the skeleton in, Ace joined her and they made it deep enough for human body. They buried it deep into the ground and covered it with sound. At the end she put a stick on top of it to signify the grave. They all paid their respect as they left Elumaru to continue on their journey to Yuba.

Naruto walked slowly back into the dessert panting, him and Chopper were taking turns at being pulled on a piece of wood. Both of them weren't suited to walk in this weather because of the amount of fur they had. At the moment it was Chopper's turn so Naruto was walking behind them at a very slow pace.

He looked up at the sun as it slowly glided over the horizon 'the last day' he thought. Tonight he was going to have to leave. Even with his speed it would take him several hours of running to reach Crocodile's base rain dinners. He was going to have to leave tonight to make sure no one noticed but also because crocodile tended to be very annoying if Naruto wasn't exactly on time or early. He tried to shake of the sad thought as he listened to everything around him.

"Aaaah, I thought desserts were supposed to be more flat." Usopp said as he dragged himself leaning on a giant stick. Vivi chuckled a bit. "Yes, well this dessert is an ancient one. The highest dunes can reach up to 300 meters." She explained. "300 METERS!" Usopp exclaimed as he sank back into his shoes not wanting to walk any longer.

Lying next to Usopp was chopper as he was pulled on his mat by Zoro. "Aah, it's so hot. I'm perfectly fine in the cold but I can't take the heat." He muttered with his tongue out of his mouth. Usopp who was dragging himself as he walked next to Chopper agreed. "Yeah, you've got that coat of fur to wear. Why don't you take of that animal costume." He said in a rude joke.

Chopper grew tick mark on his head and turned into his heavy point scaring the hell out of Usopp. "What was that? Asshole! Don't make fun of reindeers!" Chopper yelled as Usopp buckled through his knees in fright. "Aaah a monster!" He yelled. 'Really he's that easily startled?' Naruto watched the scene with amusement.

"Who are you calling a monster! You stupid nose!" Chopper yelled back. Zoro who couldn't pull Chopper when he was so big decided to join the conversation. "Chopper don't get big! I can't pull you like this." But Chopper just ignored him as he continued to yell at Usopp. Usopp who was trying to stay brave held up his hands as fists. "W-w-what are you trying? W-w-why I'm gonna.." He tried to say.

Zoro who finally had enough walked up to Chopper and put his hands on Chopper's head. He pushed down and Chopper immediately turned back to his 'brain point' in reflex, laying back down onto the piece of wood as Zoro started to pull him forth once again. Naruto snickered at the antics as Ace watched them.

"Aaaaaaaah, it's ho!" Luffy said from the other side of the group as his tongue hung out of his mouth. He tried to get a sip of water out of the tank he was holding but Nami noticed. "Luffy only one mouth full of water, enough to fill your mouth." She said to him in warning. Not really a good way of wording it though. Luffy who was made of rubber took one mouth full and now looked like hamster that had all of his gathered rations stuffed into its mouth. Sanji, Nami and Usopp who had enough of Luffy doing what he wanted hit him on the head.

"I said only one mouth!" Nami yelled. "And you already had some!" Sanji said, while Usopp joined him by nodding. Luffy who was hit on the head spat out all of the water he had in his mouth. All of them were mad at each other and started to fight.

"Don't fight! You'll waste your energy" Vivi said as she tried to calm them down in vain. Ace once again walked past as he observed the way the group acted. Naruto just joined in on him observing but couldn't help but laugh at their antics as well.

But as much as he was enjoying his last day with them, he could feel the time to leave grow closer as the night slowly arrived.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"It's not done yet Luffy. You can't eat it raw!" Sanji stated as they all sat around the fire to warm up. "Aaaw, but I'm hungry!" Luffy once again tried to grab one of the sticks with meat that was put by the fire to cook. Sanji though wouldn't have any of it and hit the hand away before it reached the pieces of meat. "DON'T TOUCH IT!" He yelled as Luffy tried again and again.

"Waah, why is it so cold now when it was so warm earlier?" Nami asked as she tried to warm herself up in front of the fire. Vivi who was doing the same sat next to her. "In a dessert there's nothing to hold onto the warmth, at day the temperature is burning hot while the temperature at night becomes freezing cold." She explained as the both of them jittered from the cold.

A bit further away from the fire Chopper was staring at the star in the sky while Naruto was sitting next to him. Usopp and Zoro were leaning against each other behind them. Both Chopper and Naruto were fine in the cold, after all they had warm fur coats that kept them warm. Chopper stared up mesmerized by the stars. "Woah, you can see so many stars." he said.

"You could see stars from the winter island couldn't you?" Usopp asked him. Chopper shook his head while he continued to look upwards. "They were there but the clouds were always in the way so you couldn't see them." He explained.

"I'm too cold to look at any stars!" Usopp said as he tried to warm himself up by covering everything that wasn't covered with his robe. Chopper just laughed and glanced at Naruto, the both of them snickered as they watched Usopp jitter. "Well we're fine in the cold." Chopper said as they both continued to grin at Usopp.

"Well that's because you're both wearing something warm!" Usopp said as he grabbed Chopper and Naruto in a hug. "Hey damn it don't hug me!" Chopper yelled trying to get away, but Usopp just grabbed him harder. "I did it because you're so fluffy." Usopp pouted but both Chopper and Naruto didn't appreciate being handled as a teddy bear. Especially one that seemed to capable of strangling them on accident. Naruto escaped using a substitution technique to reappear next to Usopp while Chopper transformed into his heavy point."Don't make fun of me!" He yelled getting all big. "AAAH MONSTER!" Usopp yelled again comically. "Chopper don't get big, you really are warm aren't you?" Zoro said as he glanced at them.

Chopper just stayed big as Naruto supported him silently with a nod, but Naruto was quickly grabbed again by Luffy who came flying by. Shoved into the pile of human bodies. Usopp too grabbed Chopper as he became small again. They both put them back together, both Luffy and Usopp rubbed their heads against the fur piled between them. "hmmm, fluffy and warm~" They cooed, while Naruto and Chopper were almost getting dizzy from all the movement.

"I bet you're both warm huh." Luffy said smiling. Both Naruto and Chopper couldn't quite help but nod and didn't attempt to escape anymore. 'It's the last night.' Naruto thought a bit sadly as Usopp and Luffy kept hugging them for warmth. 'This wasn't the way I imagined it though.' He thought with a sweat drop. Naruto couldn't quite keep the gentle smile of his face though. They were just kids after all.

Behind them even further away from the fire Ace was leaning against some rocks. Vivi noticed him and walked towards him. Ace sat there just smiling at Luffy until Vivi walked up to him. "Aren't you surprised?" She asked him. He looked up to her as she started to speak. "I was surprised at first. Luffy-san doesn't act at all like a captain. Normally a captain is respected by everyone but with them it's totally different." She said as they watched Luffy, Usopp and Zoro, who had joined them, fight over who got to be closer to Naruto and Chopper for warmth. "And only this afternoon they had started to fight because Luffy drank a bit of water. But .. After being with them for a while I've come to understand them more." She said. A slight giggle escaped from her mouth when she looked towards the captains group.

Usopp, Luffy and Chopper had now all fallen asleep after their little fight. Usopp was comfortably wrapped around Chopper while Luffy was partly hugging the two fellow teen and partly sprawled out of Zoro and Naruto. Because of their captain Naruto was almost entirely dragged out over Zoro's lap stuck. Meanwhile the green haired swordsman teen was drinking from a bottle of alcohol. Despite the odd arrangement the older teen was smirking at the fox's predicament. Naruto just scowled widely at Zoro, swearing his revenge somewhere in the future.

Ace smiled at the story as he continued to watch them. "That's Luffy's way of doing things." He said with fondness in his voice. "Eh?" Vivi said turning back to Ace. He smiled. "He really hasn't changed a bit from when we were children. Even though he acts like that people always gather around him. He may be my dumb little brother, but he has a mysterious charm that pulls people in." Vivi smiled as she listened to him speak about his little brother. "Ooh, so you already knew that." She said sarcastically. Ace grinned saucily. "Yeah, well I've known him for a long time."

Naruto could hear the discussion between Ace and Vivi with his sensitive ears. After a few more minutes being crushed by Luffy he'd finally had enough, he didn't want to wake up the younger teens though. Pondering for a few more moments he decided to go with the decidedly more self-sacrificial method. Well really just the more embarrassing solution.

He created some more space for himself by leaning into Zoro a bit more. Letting the sniper and rubber man two hug Chopper more and only a bit of his tail. Luffy whined but Naruto just childishly stuck out his tongue and turned away. As long as they didn't hurt his tails he would allow them that. But he would like to at least have some space to breathe.

Even if that meant he had to sit a bit closer to Zoro. Well despite the guy's weird habits he was one of the more tolerable crew members on this ship. One of the ones he'd deemed as having a much calmer nature. Though the swordsman's didn't always act the part. But really who could when you're surrounded by a bunch of buffoons day in and day out. Zoro nodded briefly at the fox before taking a swig of his bottle. Though each one of them had a ration of water with them Naruto would bet that Zoro also had a lot of alcohol with him. Though were he kept it was a mystery.

Looking at the green haired man Naruto couldn't help but wonder about something ever since witnessing that fight on Wiskey Peak. pondering for a moment he decided he didn't have much to lose really. "Zoro, can I ask you something?" The question lighting up the area in front of his face pulled his attention towards the fox sitting next to him. Zoro put his drink down and nodded briefly.

"Yeah, whether I'll answer that though depends on the question." Naruto nodded briefly, couldn't really blame the guy for that.

"Why did you end up following an idiot captain like that?" With his snout he pointed towards Luffy and Usopp who were pressed up against each other with Chopper in between them. His own tails were being used as some wort of blanket as they were stuck wrapped around the three younger teens.

Zoro looked as well and Naruto could the man's eyes soften briefly at the sight of his nakama wrapped up together. Naruto too couldn't help but smile as well. They were adorable together really. The youngest in the crew. After another moment Zoro's focus returned to the question and he cleared his throat causing Naruto to turn his attention back as well.

"Well it's simple really." Naruto just angled his head in confusion as Zoro smirked slightly. "He forced us." Repressing the urge to face plant Naruto just let out a frustrated sigh. "Is that how it went for all of them?" Zoro noticed the use of 'them' and not 'us' but didn't comment on it and took another swipe from his drink. "Most of us really. Nami had to rejoin after problems with her village, though you'll have to ask her on that really not my story to tell. The lovecook came but almost had to be forced, in the end he admitted to wanting to. Luffy pretty much blackmailed me but I decided it might be worth it. Usopp is actually the only one who came on his own." Naruto listened intently. Though the exact reasoning hadn't been told it was still interesting. Something else caught his attention though.

"Luffy blackmailed you?!" He wrote with an expression that just yelled incredulous. "Were you drunk or something?" He added briefly as Zoro almost choked on his drink. The green haired man took a moment to catch his breath before denying that last bit. "No! I was tied up and didn't have my katana, Luffy, I think he had his only moment of genius, decided to get them for me so that I'd have to join to get them back." Since that made sense Naruto nodded his head. Really Luffy had his moments in which he almost seemed to be a genius.

"What about you then?" He turned to face the other. "Well we pretty much forced you to come along but, well, did you leave something behind?" The fact that Zoro wouldn't looked Naruto in the eyes directly made him realize the other's problem. He had to choke back a small laugh but Zoro still heard it and his face reddened a bit. "Are you feeling guilty?" He couldn't help but write. Zoro didn't react but Naruto allowed him that bit of denial. Really if there's one thing he'd come to understand of Roronoa Zoro is that he had a lot of pride.

"Well I didn't really mind all that much. I suppose I left something behind but I won't have to worry about that." Naruto stared into the fire as he thought of Robin. After all he would be seeing her tomorrow. Zoro just looked at the fox confused, 'won't have to worry about it?' Odd way to phrase it. He respected the other's privacy though so he let it go. After all it's not like he talked about his past to anyone,

The night slowly descended further and eventually everyone left the fire to sleep in their tents. Within hours everyone was asleep and you could hear only shuffles and snoring. Naruto who had been sleeping outside under the stars glanced at each tent once more. 'It's time to go.' He thought, he had to leave now. Deep down though he didn't really want it all that much. Half of him still wanted to stay here just as the other half wanted to return to Robin. He sighed and made up his mind, there was no escaping from the start, he had already known he shouldn't have gone with them. In the end he had ignored rationality and followed his heart. Doing that had gotten him and Robin into some serious trouble before and he wasn't going to risk everything for it again. His heart may tell him to stay but he was going to go with reason besides a large part of his heart also wanted to back home, back to Robin.

He concentrated on his ears once more to make sure everyone of the Strawhats was asleep. Having checked on them he slowly jumped onto one of the rocks. He glanced back once more before he continued to climb onto the rocks and made his way away from the camp. After several minutes of climbing he finally reached the top and walked over to the edge to get his bearings in the dessert.

'Cassiopeia is located right up there, so the pole star should be… ah there it is.' He thought looking at the stars. He needed to go to the casino Rain Dinners in the city Rainbase, to get there he needed to pass by Yuba and move up even further north. Naruto's ear twitched as he heard someone step onto the giant rock he was sitting on.

"Woah, an amazing amount of stars." He heard the person say. "But what are you doing here little fox?" Naruto sighed, he'd hoped no one would notice him but now that someone did he'd have to go back to his old plan. "What are you doing here Ace?" He wrote.

Ace just laughed a bit before turning serious, "I asked first, you know Luffy won't just let you leave." He said. Naruto sighed he probably couldn't trick him into believing he was just taking a stroll, besides he had to leave soon or dawn would arrive. Naruto nodded. "I know, but right now they have to take care of Vivi's country. They won't know where I am and even if they knew they won't recognise me." Naruto wrote, he stiffened slightly when he noticed how much he was revealing. 'These guys really mess with my mind.' he thought.

"Ooh, so you got another handy ability or something." Ace asked but when he noticed Naruto ignoring his question he just sighed. "You won't stay no matter what?" Ace asked him. Naruto shook his head. "I can't leave her." He wrote one last time before disappearing in a burst of speed leaving Ace behind on the giant rock.

"Her?" Ace muttered before turning back to the camp. 'Luffy isn't going to like this.' He thought absently.


	17. The road continued and a return

**Chapter 17**

 **Susumu michi to kaeri.**

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled at Ace, meanwhile the man himself covered his ears to make sure he didn't go deaf. The entire Strawhat crew had just woken up and found that Naruto had left them the night before. He had left them a small message by the fire that only said 'goodbye'. No one wanted to believe he would just up and leave and some of them thought it had to be a mean joke, maybe even a prank of some kind. But Ace had confirmed it and told them he had chased after him before he had disappeared.

"YOU'RE LYING!" Luffy yelled. Ace looked Luffy into the eyes and sighed. His little brother really cared for his crew mates so this wasn't going to be easy. "No, I'm not Luffy, yesterday Naruto left." Luffy just stared at ace and clenched his fists tightly while everyone watched with sadness in the eyes.

"But why would he leave?" Nami asked, everyone turned to her as if she had the answers, she held up her hands and backed away a bit. "I mean he would probably have a reason to leave us, even yesterday we had so much fun together. I don't think those smiles and sniggers were lies. So he probably had a reason for leaving. One he obviously couldn't tell us." She explained. They all thought for a bit about what kind of reason it could be before Vivi noticed something else. "Why would he leave now?" She asked.

Those who had been pondering now looked her way but they didn't seem to understand her question. Vivi could see it on their faces and decided to explain. "Well think about. Just like Chopper he gets hot very easily in the dessert. So why would he leave now when we just entered the dessert? If he'd been planning to leave why couldn't he have left yesterday?" She said.

"So you mean he purposely left today? That or it was a spontaneous decision." Usopp said as he realized what Vivi meant. "So he'd probably already known he was going to leave but why? We've been together with him since he joined us." Usopp continued.

"Then something must have happened before he joined us." Zoro said, everyone looked at him, knowing he had everyone's attention he laid out his own theory. One of which the pieces assembled when they found out Naruto had left. "I mean he's only been with us for a little bit less than two weeks plus he didn't immediately join us. Remember what he said when he finally accepted the offer?" Zoro continued.

Chopper almost had question marks floating above his head going by the confusion he seemed to suffer from. He hadn't been a part of the crew yet back then. Nami though knew exactly what he was referring to and knew the answer. "Don't you all remember?" She said to the rest, but most shook their heads. "He said, 'ok, but don't expect anything thing from me or you'll be disappointed.' He knew he was going to have to leave at some point. Isn't that also why he was so down a few days ago?" She said adding the last bit as an afterthought. All of them thought pondered on that for a bit. "Yeah, remember he was crying after the show and he had said we would know what he was worrying about later." Vivi added. "Ace-san did he tell you anything else?" She asked him.

"Well, I told him that Luffy probably wouldn't ever stop chasing him." They all nodded already resigned to the fact that Luffy would probably chase him or any one of them to the end of the world. "But it didn't seem like he thought of that as such a bad thing and besides…" Ace stopped there for a moment and seemed to be thinking about something. "And besides?" Zoro pushed forward a little.

"Well, all of you know how Luffy is with something he wants, he'll chase it forever and find it." Everyone nodded instantly. "Naruto probably knows that too but he told me that you probably wouldn't find him even if he was standing right in front of you." He said relaying what Naruto had told him last night.

"What could that mean?" Vivi said. "Well I don't know but he only told me a couple of things before he left. After that though I asked him if he really wouldn't stay no matter what but he just wrote that he couldn't leave her." Ace continued.

"Her?" Most of them repeated surprised. "So he has to go back to someone, but that can't be the only reason, if it's something like that then he could have told us!" Usopp said frustrated. Zoro could clearly what Naruto had said the night before. Clearing his throat and pulled the attention to him. "I think we'll be seeing him soon." Zoro said. "What do you mean Zoro?" Sanji said as he talked for the first time since the conversation started.

"Well think about it if he knew he had to leave tonight he probably knew how long it would take for him to get to wherever he went. He's a fox so he has limited options meaning whoever or wherever he had to go to is probably somewhere here in Alabasta at most." He said surprising all of them.

Ace nodded and added in his own two cents. "Yeah, I think so too. When I saw him on the rock he was looking at the stars to find the right direction. As soon as he finished looking he turned to the north before I asked and started to talk to him." ace said.

"Yuba is in the north, do you think he went there?" Vivi said as she mentally drew the map of Alabasta. Nami shook her head. "No, you said we would reach it today right? We would get there too quickly I don't think he would have left when the chance is big we would follow that quickly. It's probably further north." She said. Vivi's eyes opened wide when Nami said that.

All of them noticed when Vivi paled slightly. "What's wrong Vivi-chan?" Sanji asked. Vivi sighed. "I hope this doesn't have anything to do with this but the only place further north is Rainbase.." She trailed off slightly. Everyone just stared at her when she said that. "And?" Usopp asked not getting it.

Vivi swallowed as she tried to calm down. "Well Rainbase is the city where Crocodile's base is located. In fact almost the entire city is under his control." She said, everyone's eyes opened wide at that. "You mean Naruto is heading to where the villain we're chasing is at. But why?" Usopp said.

"Isn't that why he was on little garden in the first place." Zoro said as he looked at things from a more neutral view as usual. "What are you saying Zoro.." Sanji said not liking where this was going. "Well don't you find it strange he was there in the first place? I mean the giants didn't know him and I sure as hell didn't see any other demon foxes there." He stated his own observations.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying Zoro?" Luffy said surprising everyone. He'd been awfully quiet since the start of the conversation. Zoro just stared passively at his captain. "Yeah, but I'm just looking at the possibilities and even if he is. I don't think everything was a lie." he said, his own feeling showing through the usual mask of indifference.

"Yeah how can he even be a part of baroque works I mean Vivi have you ever heard of a fox there?" Usopp asked Vivi. "No I haven't but I don't know anything about the Mister 1 pair so anything is possible." She said sadly. "But I agree with Mister Bushido. I don't think the time he spent with us was a lie and why would he help us on little garden if he was sent by Baroque Works?" She said. They all nodded and agreed.

"Either way. We're going to get him back!" Luffy said determined, everyone turned to him and nodded determined. "We're going to find him and beat up Crocodile!" He yelled with his fists in the air.

"You sure?" Ace asked them. "From that conversation, he could turn out to be the enemy you know." He said making them all the more determined.

"YEAH!" They all said.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

After running the whole night at slightly lax pace Naruto finally reached the outskirts of rain base, it was dawn and slowly getting warmer. As soon as he had left the Strawhats he'd made his way to this city but he hadn't yet wanted to risk changing back, so he'd run until halfway the distance and only then changed back to the human Naruto.

On the way there he took off his jumper and replaced it with a jalabiya, he'd bought a standard white one but managed to find one that had a bit of orange on it. He'd always loved the color orange but it was very noticeable so he didn't wear much of it. His one didn't have a hat with it though, on the jalabiya was a hood. If he did need to use something to cover his head he could use that. Under it he was wearing an orange shirt with a swirl on the front, he'd usually cover his t-shirt anyway so he didn't see a problem with an orange one. In the dessert he wore a jalabiya while everywhere else he just wore his jumper.

He walked up to the city in a slow pace entering the streets and slowly making his way to the casino.

He really wanted to see Robin again and was fidgeting a bit in anticipation, but at the same time meeting Crocodile wasn't a prospect he was looking forward to. Despite all the turmoil though he casually moved towards the giant casino in the middle of the city. In a few minutes he had reached the casino, before entering though he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.

His bandana was still tied around his neck. He kept forgetting but strangely enough the things he wore when he was fox didn't disappear like it did when he transformed from human to fox. Anything he put on as a fox never disappeared and stayed in place. He never really figured out why this was a one way road. The bandana was important to him though thus he only wore it when he was fox or when he was with Robin without anyone else around. After he took off the bandana and tucked it in his hip pouch before he started to head up the stairs towards the giant casino.

Crocodile had started the casino Rain Dinners to have a base, but the casino drew lots of attention. Over the years a lot of people have started to gather around the casino and Rainbase grew out to be the second biggest city in Alabasta. The casino was its main attention grabber and everyone who visited was recommended to pay it a visit. The hilarious part though was that Alabasta revered to Crocodile as their hero and because he lives in the casino rain dinners even more people started to visit it only to see him.

Naruto kept to the shadow as he entered the casino, he walked through the crowd. No one seemed to notice as he passed through. He walked through the door opening that had VIP written above it and he passed through the hall. After a few familiar turns and a few more doors he finally stopped at a fancy door. It was neatly polished and had a faint red color to it. On the door was a neat nameplate with the name 'Crocodile' carved onto it.

Taking a deep breath he prepared himself and locked away all the emotional he'd enjoyed the last few days. He had to make himself as passive and neutral as possible. He actively shut out any of the memories he'd made with the Strawhats returning to the time before he'd met them. He reopened his eyes, a hard, cold glaze covering them now. He took one more deep breath before he opened the door.

"The 'plan' will begin at 7:00 AM two days from now!" He heard Crocodile say.

Naruto walked forward in a casual manner and revealed himself to the other two occupants in the room. "So you're finally going to start?" He said smirking a little. Robin smiled at him. To everyone else it would seem like the usual smiles she gave. To Naruto it was anything but that. She was welcoming him home. Any regrets he'd had at leaving Luffy and the rest washed away immediately as Robin welcomed him back. Despite everything this was where he'd supposed to be.

"Mister Black you're back!" Crocodile said slightly happy. Naruto was surprised usually the guy was anything but happy at seeing him back. Naruto knew he was useful though so he was probably needed for something. "Yeah, Mister 3 has escaped but I've heard rumors in Nanohana that he's been sighted. He'll probably come to ask you for a second chance, so you can decide what to do with him after my report." He said.

Crocodile looked a bit unhappy but didn't say anything. Naruto took it as sign to give the man his report. He had already decided to tell him everything that had happened on the island only leaving out himself as a fox and not mentioning anything about Sanji impersonating Mister 3. He could pretend not to have known the last one.

He told Crocodile that after Mister 3 had failed his mission he arranged for a distraction and ran. Naruto who was busy observing the entire situation had missed him and went on to search. He observed from afar how Mister 2 was on the sea. Naruto told him that he'd spent the entire two weeks searching for Mister 3 and observing those who helped him do so. Crocodile just nodded and didn't say anything. In the end he just accepted the report. Naruto made sure all the details fit together perfectly but despite the convincing story he knew it had one fatal flaw.

He made too many mistakes in it and he'd never made any mistakes before. Not when on the job.

"Miss All Sunday, have you made all of the preparations?" Crocodile said changing the subject back to the mission in two days. Robin smiled at him with her usual fake complying smile. "Yes I have, 150 Billions are on standby in Nanohana. I called back Mister 2 but it turns out he also didn't manage to find Mister 3 which matches with Mister Black's report." She said trying to make support his report a bit. "All of the officers will be meeting in Spider's cafe in a couple of hours from now." She added.

Crocodile just puffed a bit of smoke from his cigars and kept silent. Naruto and Robin exchanged glances but did the same and kept quiet. After a few minutes of silence Naruto had finally had enough. "Will that be all sir?" He asked politely. Crocodile looked up and stood, he walked to the window and moved the curtains a bit allowing him to look down at Rainbase. "Mister Black I want you to go to Spider's cafe later as I know you'll be too early if you leave now." He told them. Naruto nodded. "Miss Doublefinger has my orders to welcome everyone at the Spider's cafe but she won't know you're there so keep to the shadows until they're all gathered. I want you to lead them here." He continued. Naruto bowed slightly to his disgust. "So it's beginning?" He asked, his voice neutral.

Crocodile started to laugh loud. "Yes it is. Mister Black you are to leave in an hour. Until then you are free to do as you want." He said pausing a little in between sentences. "Yes sir." Naruto said as he was dismissed from the room. It didn't take long before Robin joined him in the corridor.

They walked down the hall together taking the back door to leave the casino, neither of them wanted to stay there any longer then needed.

"And Robin how has it been lately without me? Lonely?" He teased when they finally left the casino, he couldn't help it as his worries and relief shone through. She smiled softly at him. "It's been fine Naruto. Crocodile's been getting a bit antsy with the time getting closer. I really think though we have to make sure you're with me though when we find the poneglyph. I bet he won't let me leave alive otherwise." She said. Naruto nodded, he knew that. Crocodile was trying to find the poneglyph in Alabasta because it's said to contain information on the ancient weapon Pluton. Naruto and Robin followed him to reach the poneglyph but really they hadn't had too much of a choice with how close the world government had been on their backs at that time. Despite everything Crocodile provided them with some security.

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to tail you then when that time comes. Though if it gives us a clue we'll be closer to our dream." Naruto said giving her his foxy grin. She nodded uncertainly but didn't say anything. They walked into the city with a comfortable silence amongst them.

"And Naruto.." She said breaking the silence, he turned to her and saw her smirking a bit. "Are you going to tell what the deal is with that report?" She asked him. Naruto mentally hit himself for forgetting about that, he'd been hoping she wouldn't ask but there was no way Robin wouldn't want to know how he'd spent his time. He just turned his eyes away a bit. "Ooh nothing really, it was a good time to relax so.." He said trying to dodge the question, but she wouldn't allow him to.

"Naru-kun you really think I'd believe that?" She said smiling brightly, but Naruto could hear the underlying threat. He fidgeted nervously trying to think of ways to not have to answer. After a few minutes though he couldn't figure out another method and sighed. Robin nodded with satisfaction at the answer and waited for him to explain.

"On little garden I saw Mister 3 fight the Strawhats, things happened and I temporarily ended up joining their crew. So I was with them for the last two weeks." He breathed out at once, Robin immediately held up her hands "Hold on slow down you joined their crew? And you definitely skipped some details there." She said crossing her arms sternly.

Naruto sighed once more. "I should tell you though I was in fox form the entire time but yes I joined them. Circumstances had me helping them fight against Mister 3. Apparently Luffy liked what he saw and asked... Well more or less demanded me to join his crew. Vivi, Zoro and Nami seemed to agree as they practically forced me on board when they left. Things started to happen so quickly after that though that I forgot for a moment about what I had to do." He said a bit embarrassed about having forgotten something so important but he continued. "Nami got sick so we went to Drum to help her, there we found a doctor to help her. She had an assistant that was a reindeer who could talk, we made friends with him and Luffy got him to join the crew. Then we left for Alabasta and eventually got here. The trip was fun but I left last night without telling anyone. Ace though, Luffy's brother, noticed me and tried to talk me in to stopping. But I couldn't leave you Ro, you're my family." Naruto said in an animated manner before reaching the end. When he finished he didn't look Robin in the eyes. He told her the abridged version and yet for some reason feeling a bit guilty.

Robin just smiled sweetly and chuckled. "You really like them don't you?" She said. Naruto reddened slightly though it was a lot less than usual because he was with Robin. "Wha? No! I don't like them! It was fun traveling with them but.." He said trying to deny it but deep down he knew what she said was true. Didn't mean he would admit it though. "What brought you to that conclusion anyway?" Playing it cool for now.

"Well first of all you called all of them by their names. Second you forgot that I wasn't there and just started explaining things as if it would be normal for me to understand each reference you make. And thirdly you smiled every time you mentioned one of them." She explained while putting her arms on her hips. "Naruto I've been with you since we were kids there's no way I wouldn't notice."

Naruto just sighed giving in to his defeat. "yeah I guess." He walked up to her. "I really did enjoy my time with them. I was in fox form and had three tails so I was busy thinking about how to explain if they asked. When Vivi eventually asked I told them I was a demon fox, I was trying to hide the usual term. But they all didn't care about any of that. Even the fact I couldn't talk to them but had to write, it just didn't matter." He told her softly, she just continued to listen and watched as Naruto's usually cautious features softened as he spoke. The same way they do around her. "You know everything with them was fun and relaxing, there were so many times I'd thought about how things would have been if we met them earlier. And yes 'we' cause I just know you'd like them just as much. They don't care about anything except for the person they've come to know." He said smiling, but slowly that turned into a small frown.

"But that's exactly one of the reasons I had to leave. Most of all I couldn't leave you Robin, but also because I couldn't show them the real me." He said. Robin shook her head and tapped him on the head softly. "You know that whether it's fox you or human you, they're both you!" She said scolding him slightly. Naruto grimaced but held strong.

"Yeah I know but there are too many things involved now, Baroque Works is the organization destroying Vivi's country, I'm lying to them and most of all I'm not going to leave you when I'll never know for sure if they'll leave. You know how many 'nice pirates' we've met before, none of them stayed with us once they found out just who the enemies would be." He said a bit frustrated.

Robin smiled sadly understanding the problem. "Well Naru, you know they'll turn out to be our enemies soon. And I think our hour is nearly over."

Naruto nodded understanding. "Yeah, I'll do what I have to but I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to actually kill them. They don't know me the way I am now so I don't have to worry about that though." The both of them nodded in understanding though he could see Robin was still worried about him.

"Don't worry Robin, I won't let anything happen. I may like them but not enough to risk the life we've managed to keep up until now." He tried to assure her, but the both of them knew it was a lie. Naruto wouldn't risk her but that didn't mean he couldn't risk himself. This crew had become one of his precious people at an alarmingly fast rate and no one could change that, not even Naruto himself.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

In the middle of the dessert was small house. When one looks closer you could see it was probably a cafe or a restaurant of some sort, but why it was in the middle of the dessert one would never know. The restaurant was made entirely of wood with various colors to make it a bit more likable, the colors though were of course all in light shades that didn't absorb heat. Next to the house was a huge water tank at least half the size of the house itself. From the roof of the cafe hung a small plate saying "Spider's cafe".

It was quiet and there seemed to be no one around. Inside though it was slightly different. There was a song playing on an old pick up. Next to the old turntable was a young woman. She was sitting at the bar, reading a book in peace. She was wearing glasses and had her hair tied in a ponytail, on her head she wore a bandana. He hair was a dark blue color and despite being tied up it was very fizzy. She was also wearing a dark blue tank top and a pair of brown jeans. But the peace and quiet with only music on the background wouldn't stay for long.

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah, Merry Christmas Merry Christmas! I'm tired!" Was heard on the other side of the door. Not even seconds later the door opened revealing two people who walked into the cafe. "Long trip! Tired! Hip hurts! Hiphurts and it's a your fault Mister 4. Your lagging goes to my hip, you duh!" The woman ranted loudly, saying everything in one breath. The man standing next to her listened to her ranting and nodded slowly, he stared at her absently before opening his mouth. "I'm sssssssssooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr" The man tried to finish his apology but it seemed to woman wouldn't have it. She started to continue her rant. "Yeah yeah yeah." Cutting him of.

The woman was very short and old, she was wearing a white sweater with a short tie wrapped around the collar of the blouse she was wearing under it. It had the form of Christmas tree. Her pants were purple with green flower prints and she was wearing a pair of slippers. She also had some sunglasses, her hair was fizzy sticking up on all sides.

The man next to her was a lot taller and stuck out above her. He had short blonde hair with one side combed just beside the right side of his eye. Half his face was hiding behind a light orange scarf so you could barely see his mouth. The man was quite big both in length and in width, wearing a green shirt without sleeves above a lighter one with sleeves. The sleeves that were visible had all kinds of swirly patterns drawn onto them, which had a bit of a Roman look to it. He was also wearing a pair of black pants and some big hiking shoes. On his back hung a giant bag, it was slightly bigger than himself but he seemed to carry it without much of a problem, it had a cylinder like form.

The woman turned to the other woman who had been quietly reading her book until they had entered. "How's business Paula? Your place looks empty today, empty place, empla, emp, e!" She kept on ranting again shortening her words to be able to talk faster.

Paula just smiled at the pair and calmly walked behind the bar. "Hahaha, long time no see Mister 4, Miss Merry Christmas." She greeted the newly identified pair politely. She started to wash a couple of glasses while she kept talking. "The place is entirely reserved today." She explained. "Do you want orange pekoa? And does apple juice sound good to you Mister 4?" She inquired as she finished washing the glasses.

"Don't make it hot! I wanna drink it now, come on then, now now now!" Miss Merry Christmas said banging her hands on the table with impatience while Mister 4 was still in the middle of answering Paula on whether he wanted some apple juice. Paula just continued to smile at the both of them as she heated up the orange pekoa for her to drink anyway. "My my, your lively. How's work?" She put down the drinks, mister 4 was slowly reaching for the drink while Miss Merry Christmas had already finished hers the moment it touched the bar they were sitting at. She was about to answer in her rapid pace when they heard a some weird singing and music from outside the shop.

"When'd you start playing weird songs here?" She asked slightly less hyper than usual. Paula just looked surprised for a bit but kept up her neutral smile. "I'm playing a sonata not a song." She stated as a matter of fact. But soon the both of them heard the weird noise coming closer, it was from outside the cafe.

"Un deux oraa! Un deux kuraaa!" It kept repeating as the song kept getting closer.

"Huh?" The both of them said as they watched the door intently.

"In this world there are man and woman~, but okama are a man as a woman~" Someone sang in a very ridiculous manner. There was absolutely no structure to the song or the tekst. "Therefooore~~ STRONGEST!" The voice half yelled half sang as more voices joined in to repeat what he said. "Okama~ way!" It continued with the echo not far behind. The singing continued to get closer until it was in front of the door.

"WELL I FEEL SUPER~" It yelled in front of the door, the door shot open seconds after having sung that "and you?" The person said in a ballerina pose. Miss Merry Christmas just stared incredulous while Paula had sweat dropped a bit. "You look stupid to me." She muttered, but it didn't go unheard by the okama.

"No no! I'm not stupid Paula and you know why? Because I'm an okama." He exclaimed as though it was obvious she should know that. Just like Miss Merry Christmas he banged on the table as he sat down. "Gimme a takopa." Paula just stared at him with her hands on her hips. "A takopa?"

"Stoooop jookiiiingg arooound~" He yelled in a twisty high and low voice half singing and yelling. It seemed the man was unable to talk in a normal manner. "A tako parfait, duuh, gyahahaha." Paula just sighed and started to prepare the 'takopa'.

"Oke lovies you can go now, don't forget your dance practice." Mister 2 said to the others who had followed him in his ridiculous dance. They answered him immediately with a salute and turned to leave. He turned back to the bar when he noticed Miss Merry Christmas lying on one of the tables while Mister 4 was giving her a massage. "Ooh, you were here to? Fatty and toots." He said.

"Shut up, your mouth is killing my hips." Miss Merry Christmas ranted while Mister 4 didn't seem to hear anything and continued the massage. "Did you hear even the Mister 1 pair will be here! I've never met them before! I'm so excited!" Mister 2 mentioned happily.

In the corner of the cafe sneaking a peak through the windows was Mister 3, he had escaped from little garden and without a partner he had practically no power. He was hoping that by getting in contact with Mister 0 he could get his job back.

Naruto who had been sitting on the roof since the beginning sighed as he lay on his back, he stared at the clouds and watched the very few amount pass by as the sun heated up everything in its sight. 'Mister 1 is extremely punctual so he won't be here until in exactly ten minutes at most.' He thought. The clouds slowly passed by as he listened to the bickering of Mister 2 and Miss Merry Christmas below. His thought drifted off as he thought of various things, the Strawhats, Robin and the poneglyphs. Soon they would have found another poneglyph and another step closer to their dreams. Meanwhile Naruto would do whatever it would take to keep Robin safe, but he didn't know how far he would be able to go if it involved the Strawhats. Naruto sighed, even though he'd been kicked out and even though he had been very young when it happened he still grew up in a village of shinobi. He had an amazing amount of control on his emotions when he needed there to be. Though that might be because of experience.

Most of all though he couldn't ignore the idea of them hating him, if he was honest it even scared him. All his life he'd been hated but all that was by people he didn't care for and who didn't know him. This was different.

But before Naruto could ponder any further on his reoccurring dilemma, he heard a loud sound below him and multiple gasps. He turned his attention back to what was happening in the cafe.

"Oh, okama you know these guys?" Mister 1 asked as he walked into the room through the wall he had just destroyed. Not just destroyed he'd thrown Mister 2's followers into the wall to break it. Mister 2 who had watched his so called 'lovies' get thrown into the room was very agitated. "They were making suspicious movements in the dessert but don't worry they're not dead. You seem to be getting along with them but these ridiculous relationships will only end in destruction." The man continued in an uninterested manner as he walked into the cafe.

Mister 2 had enough when he heard what the man had to say about his precious followers and attacked him. "They're my subordinates!" He yelled while charging. Miss Merry Christmas and Paula tried to stop him but didn't succeed.

"OKAMA KENPO: SWAN ARABESQU!" The man yelled, kicking Mister 1 in the face multiple times. Mister 1 just dodged out of the way and dropped the 'lovies' he'd been holding. In retaliation he attempted to hit the okama back in the face by swinging his arm back, but Mister 2 just dodged and continued his kicking barrage.

Eventually he managed to hit Mister 1 squire in the chest, he flew back into a wall, but before he had even touched it the wall was sliced into pieces around the place he would have hit. It fell behind him and Mister 1 harmlessly flew out of the cafe. He rolled for a bit before coming to a stop, he quickly stood up and tried to get Mister 2 back for what he did but before he could Paula was standing in his way with her hands out stretched. "Wait Mister 1 that's enough." She exclaimed.

Mister 1 stared at the bartender and stopped. "Don't stop me Miss Doublefinger." He tried to get past her, but she wouldn't let him. Behind her Miss Merry Christmas was holding a struggling Mister 2 on the ground as he tried to attack Mister 1. "Hold you anger Mister 2!" The newly named Miss Doublefinger said sharply.

"It's time, all the officer agents have gathered." She explained taking of her glasses and bandana. "We're going to meet the man who has been commanding us all this time." The hair piece that was holding her hear together came loose revealing an afro like hairdo. Everyone calmed down at hearing the purpose of their gathering. It was very quiet and you could hear the wind blow but that silence was soon broken.

"That's right." A voice from above echoed clearly.

Appearing in front of them out of nowhere was another person with bright yellow hair and almost glowing blue eyes. Naruto observed as each of them slid into a defensive stance. "Who are you?" Miss Doublefinger asked catiously as she and the rest of them observed him. Naruto sighed and turned to the Mister 1 pair.

"I'm Mister Black." He said calmly. Everyone gasped in unison at the revelation.

"Mister Black? You mean THAT Mister Black.." Mister 2 asked from his position on the ground. Naruto who was trying to stay serious chuckled a bit inside but kept his neutral façade up. "Yes, I'm here to take you to the meeting place."

"How can we trust you?" Mister 1 told him while the rest nodded slightly still in shock. "Yes, I quite agree. I hadn't expected Mister Black to be someone quite so... young." Miss Double finger worded carefully, making a good point. Naruto nodded in understanding and thought for a minute before reaching into his pocket, everyone tensed a bit at the action. He grabbed a whistle that was in his pocket and put it in his mouth before moving his hands to cover his ears. When he had his ears covered he blew down hard on it. No one there heard anything and some where even planning to ask what he was doing. But before anything was asked they heard the flapping of wings.

Behind them they saw the Unluckies flying towards them, but instead of landing a bit further away from them as they usually did they headed straight for them. None of them took any action to defend or attack as they didn't believe the unluckies could actually hurt them and thus observed what they were going to do. Mister 13 jumped off Miss Friday and jumped straight into the arms of Mister Black who smiled slightly. Miss Friday flew on for a bit before circling back and landing on Naruto's shoulder, the smile didn't quite leave his face. Despite the both of them being under Crocodile's control he couldn't help but like how innocent the two animals could be.

The officer agents watched as the unluckies had all gathered and smiled at each other. They could see they were a group, each one of them seemed to enjoy the others presence. Mister Black turned back to them. "Is this enough proof?" He asked them raising an eyebrow.

Mister 1 nodded while everyone else was still gaping at seeing the group together. "So the rumors of you being an unlucky and everything else is true?" Miss Doublefinger asked.

Mister Black turned back to her with Mister 13 making himself comfortable in his arms. "Technically yes, I am considered an unlucky but my job isn't limited to that. I am considered a unlucky to the officer agents but I also do direct jobs for Mister 0 that need a more… special way of handling. Besides not everything can be done by Miss All Sunday because her presence is needed for other things." Miss Doublefinger nodded but her partner walked a bit closer. "What is it you mean by a more special way of handling?" He asked a little bit of curiosity shining through for the first time.

Naruto smirked evilly as he had been expecting that one. "Well assassination, infiltration, interrogation. Why do you think everything about me is unknown." He said casually as if none of those things actually bothered him. Mister 1 just returned to his normal unemotional gaze and nodded. The others shivered creeped out but nonetheless also nodded.

"Ok, now that that's solved we can finally leave." Naruto said pointing towards a carriage standing behind cafe, in front of it was the giant turtle Chance pulling it. "Where to?" Mister 2 asked in a relatively normal tone considering he'd normally sing or dance. "We're going to the place your 'boss' resides in. We're going to Rainbase." He said as they entered the carriage one by one.

Once all of them had entered the carriage Naruto closed the door and made his way to the front. The officer agents who had noticed didn't ask, but observed as Naruto just jumped onto the back of the turtle and sat there. He whispered something into its ear and the turtle started to move at a surprisingly fast pace with Mister Black still on his back.

After a few minutes the officer agents started to relax and discussed multiple things that had happened and things they thought would happen when they met their 'boss'. Naruto who was staring at the sky just smirked as he could hear everything that was being said thanks to his heightened hearing. Relieved Naruto listened to their bickering to keep his mind off of other problems he didn't really want to think of.

After a while of listening to all of them he started to doze of half sleeping and half listening to everything. He was tired of all the worrying about what to do, he turned on his back watching the bright blue sky and sun. Closing his eyes he thought back on everything that had happened so far, he sighed a bit before opening them. The usual brightened blue eyes that held every one of his emotions possible had turned to a steel blue, he stared up at the sky and made his decision.


	18. A time of happiness and a Croc's attack

**Ok so just a small notice. As I have 11 deadlines and an important week with exams on top of that, the next chapter won't be for awhile. No worries, it won't be too long but I need to edit it and time is not of abundance. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **Shiawase na jikan to Wani no shugeki**

Later that day they had all arrived at rain dinners, Naruto had shown them through the casino to the back room where Crocodile resided. Most of the officer agents didn't understand why they were there and he saw they felt a bit anxious. He thought he'd seen a flicker of realization on Mister 1's face but the guy really managed to hide it well though he seemed a bit conflicted about something. 'Well what do you expect one of the shichibukai is leading them, I bet they won't believe anyone even if they were told so until they see it with their own eyes.' Naruto thought absently when he saw the confusion.

After they'd reached the viper room, As Crocodile called it, he told them to sit down and wait. At first they hadn't complained but as the minutes passed it seemed the patience had run out. Miss Merry Christmas and Mister 2 couldn't stop bickering, Mister 2 was bored and started to dance while Miss Merry Christmas yelled that it made her back worse and ordered him to stop. Mister 4 just watched the exchange and laughed but Naruto was pretty sure the guy wasn't following most of it. Miss Doublefinger had changed into different clothing, though Naruto didn't have any idea when she did so. She was now wearing a very tight leather pair of pants with a corset spider web like top, she was wearing a small coat on top of it. Her hair was lose showing the long and very curly hair she had hidden before.

The Mister 1 pair didn't have to much trouble enjoying themselves. They seemed to make a good pair. Mister 1 enjoyed peace and quiet or at least not being involved with the rest, Miss Doublefinger seemed to respect that and let him be. Only talking to him on one or two occasions showing he trusted her on a certain level and allowing her to do so. Miss Doublefinger who mostly left her partner to his privacy watched as the other bickered and occasionally laughed. As time passed she also seemed to have gotten a book out of nowhere and proceeded to read.

Naruto listened to everything that was happening in the room as he meditated. Over the years he'd found meditating to be very helpful, it not only made him calmer and more observing but also helped with his chakra control as he calmed himself. As a kid he'd had to grow up quickly to survive, it was the same for Robin, this though had left the both of them with a slightly childish personality for nineteen year olds. Not that they really cared but it had brought them trouble on occasions and meditation seemed to help him think things through.

Naruto smiled inwardly as he felt a familiar presence come closer. He got out of his meditation position and stood up, the room turned quiet as most of them had probably forgotten he was there. Naruto ignored them and walked towards the door of them room as it opened.

"It looks like you really can't get along." A voice said as the door opened, Robin walked into the room with her usual smile. "Not that it really matters."

Everyone turned their attention to her. "Miss All Sunday!" Miss Doublefinger said slightly surprised. Mister 2 just continued to dance or rather continued to twirl around the room. "Sunday-chan!" He yelled. The rest just watched as Miss All Sunday moved towards their table.

"Thank you for enduring this long journey, having all of us gathered will ensure victory." She said spreading her arms out while smiling at them. Mister 1 just ignored the sentence and went straight to the point. "Why are we here, Miss All Sunday?" Though he had probably already figured out the reason.

Robin moved closer to the table where they all sat and Naruto joined her by standing next to her. Robin smiled again at the question. "Oh right, Chance took you to the back door. I'm sure you're all familiar with this town. The place people hope to get rich quickly by gambling; Rain base." She said stalling a bit for time. 'Just like Ro to pester them in such a subtle manner.' Naruto thought as he watched Mister 1 get irritated.

"And the building you are in right now towers over the oasis in the middle of Rainbase. The greatest casino; Rain Dinners!" She said dramatically. "But anyway I bet you knew that." She said ruining the tension that had built up. Naruto was sniggering inside as he watched some of the group deflate from the anticipation while Mister 1 grew more irritated by the minute.

Suddenly though Naruto felt a presence on the chair at the head of the table, he smirked a bit. 'Hoo the boss has arrived.' He pulled on Robin's sleeve and whispered in her ear. "I think you've had enough fun the boss has arrived." Naruto could practically see the disappointment behind the mask she wore. Robin turned back to the crowd who had calmed down a bit.

"If there are no questions we'll continue." She smiled at them while Miss Merry Christmas hit the table again in her usual quick and hurry up manner. "But before that we must introduce the boss you have yet to meet! Until now I have acted as his 'private face' in giving you orders. But now there's no need for this anymore. Do you understand?" She said giving them a questioning look.

Most of them were about to ask when another voice echoed through the room. "It's about time..." It said. The voice came from the chair at the head of the able. Nobody but Naruto and Robin who were told had noticed and they were all surprised. The chair turned around revealing Crocodile who was sitting there. "Plan: Utopia, that is the final plan of baroque works!" He said smirking at the group.

"Cro..! CROCODILE!" The group exclaimed, or at least those who hadn't already deducted it.

"Well this is damn unbelievable." Miss Merry Christmas exclaimed. Miss Doublefinger nodded in agreement looking jut as shocked. "I would never have guessed, but why one of the 'shichibukai'!" She asked. "YOU MEAN WE'VE BEEN WORKING FOR A PIRATE?!" Mister 2 yelled, Mister 4 just looked stressed probably still stuck in a state of shock.

Crocodile who had enough put on his most serious and intimidating face and poured out some killing intent. "Any complaints?" He asked ominously. The group reacted immediately by sitting back into their seats and shutting up. 'Nice killing intent, quite surprising on the grand line. despite all the fighting there's hardly anyone with a good amount of killing intent here.' Naruto though.

Miss Doublefinger was the first to shake out of the intimidation and asked the golden question everyone was probably wondering about. "No complaints, just a question." She added for security. "Why would a pirate sponsored by the government do this...?"

Everyone paid close attention to their boss as he continued took a deep draw on his cigar. Eventually he blew out the smoke into the room. "What I want is not money or land. What I want is military power!" He stated. Everyone was a little shocked but they kept quiet for the most part.

Crocodile continued to draw on his cigar as he blew out some smoke every minute or so. "Let's talk about this in order, first my objective, then the details of baroque works final plan."

Naruto drifted off as Crocodile explained what he had heard many times before. Mister 2 would impersonate the king to break the trust the civilians had left for him, while the real king would have been kidnapped. Crocodile in the meantime would find out the whereabouts of the poneglyph though the officer agents wouldn't know that, they would just follow orders to make sure Nefertari Vivi and Kohza don't meet.

He stared at nothing in particular for a few moments as he wondered how the Strawhats where before he saw Robin studying him. He gave her a small smile unnoticeable to the rest. He could see the worry for him on her face.

"You mean we can do that here?" He heard Mister 2 say with an elated face. "We'll take over the entire country? I'm getting excited!" Naruto had to stop the urge of rolling his eyes as he watched Mister 2 jump up and down on his chair like a child. Mister 1 though seemed to take it a little bit more serious. 'Though this guy could lighten up a little in turn.' He thought.

"So our duties are to carry out the last facets of the final plan?" He asked Crocodile formally.

"That is correct all of the jobs you've done for baroque works until now have been for this plan. Those…" Ge said pointing to the pieces of paper on the table when he said the last bit. "Are you final orders!" Each one of them picked up he piece of paper and read it carefully.

"The time to get rid of the kingdom Alabasta has come." Everyone folded there papers to signify they were done reading. "When you have all completed those order, the kingdom of Alabasta will be destroyed!" He said as each of them burned their order in the candle fire on the table.

"The cornered rebels and civilians will tragically fall right into the hands of baroque works. In one night this kingdom will become our utopia!" Everyone smirked at the thought, Naruto and Robin though kept their passive attitudes. In Robins case this also meant her usual grin while Naruto didn't show any emotion at all. Keeping his face utterly blank.

"This is baroque works final "plan Utopia". Failure will not be tolerated. It will begin tomorrow at 0700." Crocodile puffed once more on his cigar and took a deep breath, he showed his most malicious grin yet. "Meeting adjourned, pray for victory!"

Everyone was about to leave the room when a voice suddenly interrupted. "I would appreciate it if you would wait on this plan Utopia." They all swiftly turned to the stairs where the voice came from, Naruto though had already sensed the guy hitch a ride with them but hadn't really cared.

"Mister 3! How did you get in here?" Miss All Sunday asked surprised. Mister 3 just scoffed and shrugged. "Simple I just followed you here from Spider's cafe, I just hitched a ride on your 'Chance'." He said.

Naruto just sighed. 'If only he'd stayed hidden, then I could have let him go.' He thought sadly, he saw Robin catch glimpses at him. He buried his emotions deep inside and within a flash he was behind Mister 3 holding a kunai against his neck. Watching him with his now cold ice blue eyes. He held the kunai against his neck with no intention of moving until he was given an order when a voice echoed through the room.

"Wait! Mister Black!" Crocodile said, Mister Black nodded and within a second he was standing back next to Robin. The entire room had gone awkwardly quiet and he noticed the officer agents glances at him. Mister 3 though was more worried about whether his neck was still where it was supposed to be as he kept rubbing the spot Naruto had held the kunai to.

"What are you doing here, Mister 3?" Crocodile said in an almost threatening voice, but Mister 3 kept his ground. "Boss, please listen.. I came here because I wanted another chance. Of course Mister 2 came to finish me off because I failed to complete orders..." But Crocodile was no longer listening. "You failed to complete orders? What you failed at is to give an accurate report of the situation and a weekly report." He thundered leaking out some killing intent.

Mister 3 seemed baffled. "Bu.. After Mister Black came I never gave another report!" He said weakly. Crocodile who heard that seemed shocked as well, Naruto had to stop himself from laughing at the expression. 'Guess Sanji did a good job at reporting'. He thought amused.

After a few seconds Crocodile sighed and sat back down on his chair. "No wonder the report of Mister Black didn't coincide with yours." He sighed when suddenly he seemed to have gleam in his eyes and a smirk made its way to his face. 'Ooh this can't be good.' Naruto thought.

"Mister 3 your failure is unacceptable, therefore you must be punished." Crocodile stated while Mister 3 flinched and almost started to shake in fear. "You are to report back here tomorrow at 0630." Mister 3 gulped visibly but nodded. "Meeting adjourned!" He said once more as everyone in the room stood up and left.

After a few minutes only Naruto, Robin and Crocodile where left over. Crocodile sighed and went back to sit on his chair. "You two are to meet me back here tomorrow at 0530." He said. Naruto and Robin both nodded before also leaving the room.

They rushed slightly through the backdoor exit back into the city as they blended in. Naruto watched as Robin walked next to him. "So... How was your day?" He asked in a poor try to start a discussion. She chuckled a bit before their paces settle in something a little less rushed. "My day was fine I guess. I'm just a little nervous about going to the poneglyph." Naruto frowned at the last bit but it soon lightened up into a grin "Don't worry Robin, I'll be there won't I!"

Robin nodded but didn't seem convinced they walked toward a small park that was in the outer ring of the city. It was the only place where there was a bit of greenery, there was enough water for it to grow but because of the heat not much actually grew. They sat under one of the trees while watching people pass by.

"But that's just it." Robin suddenly said referring back to what he had said last, she saw the blank look on Naruto's face and elaborated. "It's just I want to be able to do this myself, I just know Crocodile will attempt to separate us and when he does I want to be able to protect myself and not always be the burden!" Naruto could see the determination in her eyes. 'She did always do what she wanted, just like me.' Naruto thought with a sigh. "You're not a burden Ro, it's just my selfishness. I want to be able to protect those precious to me because I don't want to be alone. You're the only one I have left and I won't let Crocodile change that! Besides you're very strong already!"

Robin smiled at last bit. "Thanks Naruto, you know I appreciate that but our goal is a dangerous one, we have to accept there will be risks." She said wisely, Naruto nodded.

Robin stood up for a moment and started to walk away. "huh Ro? Where are you going?" She kept on walking but held up her hand. Naruto shrugged as he returned to lie on the grass enjoying the shadow. Holding up her hand had always been a signal saying she'd come back in minute, he didn't know when they started doing that but he guessed it just stuck after it was repeated a couple of times.

He relaxed under the shadow of the tree for a while enjoying the little piece of nature he was in. His jalabiya was open on the front while his hood covered his sun kissed hair. He was enjoying the rustling of the tree and the peace and quiet until he felt something shift next to him a few minutes later. He opened an eye and saw Robin now sitting next to him leaning against a tree with a book in her hands, he grinned for a bit as he read the title. 'Pirate legends and the sea's mystery'.

"Getting interested Ro?" He said smirking while referring to a certain group of pirates he'd been with, but Robin just shot down his suggestion with a smile. "Yes, actually I am. They seem really interesting and they managed to hook you in." She said grinning when she returned the jab. Naruto held his hand to his heart as if her remark hurt him badly. She just shushed him and continued on with her book, Naruto too returned to his spot and laid back down to take a nap.

In Rainbase night never came, it was a city where gambling was the main attraction. Because of this life was flourishing most at night. The shops opened with vigor, the streets flooded with people and they were decorated in the most beautiful ways. Light shone giving it a very nostalgic shine despite the dark night above them. But Naruto and Robin didn't really care about any of this though, they'd seen it many times before in the last half a year. The first time they had come here though they'd thoroughly explored the city. Eaten all kinds of foods and enjoyed their time together, it was one of Naruto's most precious of memories.

Because of all the light Robin could continue to read until late in the morning while Naruto watched as the lights and the people made their way through the streets.

"Weird huh?" He said, Robin looked up from her book and watched as the people passed them walking into the streets. "What is?" Naruto just continued to watch the streets until he closed his eyes and turned on his back facing the stars that were no longer visibly thanks to the surrounding lights. That and the tree branches and leaves covering them. He held up a hand as if to grab one of the invisible stars. "It's just they are having such a good time in this city not knowing what will happen."

Robin watched him a bit sadly. "Yes, that is weird. But you know even when those lights go out, light isn't lost." She said cryptically. Naruto turned back onto his stomach leaning his face onto his arms as he looked her in the eyes. "Lights?" Robin could see a bit of eagerness in his eyes and chuckled. "Yes, even when these light go out, hope isn't lost. Weren't you just grabbing for it?" Naruto thought for a bit when his eyes lit up. "Ah you mean the stars." Robin nodded and watched as Naruto's expression softened up. "Yes, the stars will always be there to guide." She said wisely.

Naruto continued to watch as the streets flooded with people, all looked so happy and peaceful not knowing that Crocodile wasn't their hero. 'Hope huh.' He thought, immediately an image of the Strawhats appeared in his mind. He felt the weight and worry slid of his shoulder. 'I hope they succeed, either way we can't.' He thought as he drifted off in a deep sleep.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Naruto sluggishly opened his eyes as he was shook back and forth. "5 more minutes, I wanna sleep more." He mumbled before closing his eyes once more. He heard a soft giggle that he recognized. "Come on Naru. We have to meet Crocodile in 15 minutes." He grumbled a bit more under his breath as what she said registered in his mind. Eventually he complied and sat up. They were still on their patch of grass under a tree, the streets in front of where they sat were quiet, the only time they were overly active was at night. Closer to the casino were the shops that were active both at night and at day but they tended to be more expensive, not that they cared about that.

He slowly stood up after shaking away the tiredness, Robin sighed a bit at the sight. Naruto really wasn't a morning person. Robin grabbed her book while Naruto checked to make sure he had everything they needed, when they had made sure everything was present they made their way back to the ridiculously big, Crocodile shaped casino.

'Seriously who makes a casino with a giant Crocodile on top.' Naruto thought still half asleep, he thought about that for a few seconds before mentally slapping his own forehead for being so stupid. 'Of course a guy named Crocodile, but then again who calls their kid a name like that?' He continued his chain of thought on the ridiculous matter as they slowly paced through the city.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Should we really leave it to them?" Sanji asked the rest skeptically. They had just sent Luffy and Usopp to get water for them but he was really doubting they could handle that. "It's only an errand, they can do it" Nami said trying to show her confidence in their captain and Usopp but doubt could be heard in her voice. It seemed not even the navigator of their group could deny that their captain wasn't very reliable in situations like this.

The Strawhat crew had just arrived in Rainbase ten minutes ago, after having lost Naruto they went to Yuba trying to stop the rebellion while also trying to track down their fox. They had expected things to go well, according to Vivi the headquarters of the rebellion was there and since Naruto had to pass by there they could ask for witnesses.

Wrong.

When they got there the city was in ruins, there was no water or even humans for that matter, anywhere in sight. After wandering through they met an old acquaintance of Vivi, he told them that the city had dried up and the rebellion headquarters had moved to Katorea. That was just next to Nanohana where they'd been before! As they left Yuba Luffy suddenly decided he didn't want to continue. He, in a moment of genius, confronted Vivi on the fact that stopping the rebellion wouldn't end the suffering in this country unless they beat Crocodile. Though he added he also wanted to find Naruto and to do that they had to head to Rainbase. Vivi had made up her mind after that and they all decided that was for the bet.

That was how they ended up where they were now.

"I wonder, you don't think they'll come back with trouble?" Zoro answered readily Nami adding in his own two cents. They all nodded at the suggestion seriously considering the possibility. "Maybe we should be prepared for that?" Everyone immediately packed they stuff so they could leave at a moment's notice though Sanji occasionally jabbed Zoro by saying how it was rare for him to say something smart.

It didn't take long though for something to happen, surprisingly it wasn't Luffy though. A few minutes after they had finished packing Chopper came running back in panic muttering and yelling things so they couldn't understand him. "Calm down Chopper! We don't understand a word you're saying!" Nami said trying to calm down the panicking reindeer.

Chopper got the point and shut up for a moment, he took a couple of deep breaths and steadies his breathing before starting to explain. "I just smelled Naruto!" Everyone's eyes widened the moment he said that. "Where Chopper?!" Zoro said first though everyone was planning on saying those exact two words.

"I don't know it's really weird…" The reindeer's face scrunched up in confusion as he looked at the ground, it seemed as if he was trying to figure something out. Nami, Sanji and Zoro exchanged glanced before Sanji broke the silence. "What's weird Chopper, couldn't you just smell him out like usual?"

Chopper shook his head. "The smell is faint and I'll need some time to find the source but that isn't the weird part." They all raised their eyes but didn't say anything as the reindeer continued. "There's another smell mixed in, it's definitely Naruto's smell I mean how many foxes can you find in a dessert? But there's a human smell mixed in, and I don't recognize it."

"A human smell?" Nami wondered, Chopper nodded. "Yeah, it's definitely Naruto yet at the same time it's not?" He seemed confused as if he was unable to express it right. Everyone nodded but before they could ponder any further on the subject two of the idiot trio came running around the corner. Luffy had a huge grin on his face while Usopp was comically crying about their predicament. Behind them an army of marines was chasing them with as their leader Smoker.

Zoro smirked a bit. "See told you so!" He said smugly. Nami had tick mark growing on her head, Chopper was just watching on in astonishment. Meanwhile Sanji blew on his cigarette before hitting Zoro on the head. "Don't be proud of something stupid, baka marimo!" They got into an argument with each other but even so each one of them recognized the situation and started to run in the opposite direction of the marines.

They ran through the crowd in Rainbase trying to avoid the marines, it wasn't subtle though they were making lots of noise and pulling much attention to themselves. Sanji noticed. "This isn't good guys, if we continue like this baroque works is sure to notice!" But out of the corner of their eyes they could see suspicious people already starting to move through the crowd.

"I think it's too late for that." Zoro said voicing the thought of most in the crew. "Let's go then.." Luffy said pulling the attention to him. "To where Crocodile is, Vivi!" Said girl nodded nervously and pointed towards the giants casino situated in the middle of the city. "Can you see that giant pyramid like building, That giant casino is called Rain Dinners and Crocodile owns it!" Luffy nodded and everyone joined.

"We should scatter." Sanji said, Luffy and Zoro nodded in agreement. "Okay, we'll meet back up at..." Everyone took another street, some in pairs and some alone. "CROC'S HOUSE!" Their captain yelled as he jumped over the houses with Smoker chasing him.

Each one of them made their way to the casino not noticing Naruto and Robin walk by the crowd wondering what all the ruckus was about.


	19. Miss all Sunday and the sign of a Nakama

**Someone actually had it right! Wow. Also funny that when I'm finally available to update it should be on my birthday. Presumably the busiest day of the year?**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Miss all Sunday to nakama no shirushi.**

Naruto and Robin had entered the casino and were now listening to Crocodile's usual ridiculous laugh. "And the pirates are in this town?!" He yelled, looking through the window. Robin smiled enigmatically while Naruto remained silently next to her, not pulling any attention towards himself. He preferred to take on Crocodile's ire himself but the both of them had a goal. And him being load just didn't fit in with it.

"Yes, I just got word from the millions." Robin stated calmly. Only Naruto noticed the brief twitch in her facial expression, one that said plenty about the amount of patience she had for the older man.

"HAHAHAHA, bring those insignificant brats here to see me!" He ordered. With only a brief nod of the head both Naruto and Robin left the room to do their job. Just before they left the room though Crocodile interrupted once more, to their displeasure.

"Miss All Sunday I want you to get the princess to come here. Mister Black I want you to come back here and stay in this room to await orders after the task is completed." They both nodded and opened the door to leave.

Together they walked through the corridors at a slow pace very quietly, after a few minutes of this Naruto finally had enough and broke the silence. "So what are we going to do?" She looked at him and thought about it for a minute. "I don't think we have to do anything, they'll probably come here by themselves." She reasoned. Naruto sweat dropped, he couldn't help but agree. 'They would probably come storming into the casino all on their own'.

And almost as if he had planned everything they heard yelling and loud noises from the direction of the main room in the casino. As Robin and Naruto entered the casino and watched from the back, they could see Nami, Luffy and Usopp yell for Crocodile and Vivi to show up.

"Assistant manager, there are some strange people here." An employee informed the assistant manager standing next to them. There wasn't really a reason to interfere and so they watched.

"Tell security to get rid of them." Naruto couldn't help but snicker a bit. 'As if security is enough for these guys.'

"I've got you now Strawhat!" They heard someone yell as the doors opened. Running into the casino was Captain Smoker of the marines. "This place is on a lake, you can't get away now!" The security tried to stop him as government officials weren't allowed inside the casino. Well what did they expect it's run by a criminal.

"Aah it's smokey!" Luffy Panicked with an odd mixture of excitement to it, as he and the rest ran further into the casino to get away from the captain.

A few meters away from Naruto and Robin were three security guards standing the path of Luffy and his crew. "Excuse me gentleman, we'd like you to step outside for a minu.." But before he could finish his sentence he was knocked to the side as Luffy barged through without a care in the world.

Naruto was crouching while holding a hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh, it was hilarious watching Luffy do ridiculous stuff like this. From next to him Robin allowed a small smile to shine through as she watched the Strawhats do their usual routine. Which consisted of their daily dose of getting into trouble and making everything difficult for the world around them.

The assistant manager panicked and was trying to make sure the intruders wouldn't get any further. Robin had actually expected Naruto to handle it, but seeing the current state the other was in he probably wouldn't. She walked up to the assistant manager who, as soon as he saw her, tried to explain. She shushed him with a smile. "Bring them to the VIP room." She said motioning to the Strawhats. The man was at a loss for words but she continued. "Crocodile's orders." Without another pause the man nodded and passed the order on to the rest of the casino.

Within a minute the red carpet was put on the floor and multiple employees were welcoming the Strawhats to the back of the casino. They ran through while Naruto and Robin watched from the back of the casino.

As they watched the Strawhats run through Robin sighed, Naruto nodded and turned back to her after he calmed down from his laughing fit. "I guess that's a job done then, Vivi wasn't here." She nodded and turned to leave. "Yes I'll go get her. Don't worry Naru I haven't got any orders to hurt." Though she whispered it, Naruto heard it and smiled. Robin left the casino and Naruto turned back to the VIP room.

He walked through the corridor back to where he was supposed to be according to orders. At the end the corridor split into two different hallways. One of them led to Crocodile's room and the other led to the VIP rooms for guests. The right directions were always put on little signs to show which was which, but at the moment the signs had different names. On the left one which led to Crocodile's room it now had the title VIP while the right one was now pirates instead of VIP. He wondered why for a moment until he saw the floor that was open.

'A trapdoor' Seriously who would fall for that, a VIP room for pirates? For a moment he stared dumbly before feeling the urge to hit himself. 'Ooh wait they have Luffy.' He sweat dropped for a bit before taking off towards the hallway to Crocodile's room.

When he arrived in front of the room he faltered in his stride when he heard Luffy yelling. Naruto knew he was supposed to be in the room but a few more seconds wouldn't matter too much. He felt his determination to forget all of his time with them waver but pushed through. They didn't know. He took one deep breath and buried his feeling deep into his core as he opened the door slightly. Nobody would notice until he'd want them too. Using his skill in stealth he walked unnoticed into the room before he sat on the ground behind Crocodile leaning against the wall. He had a good view of the room from where he sat, Crocodile probably didn't even notice he was there but his only orders were to be there not to show himself.

He watched passively as Luffy took out his anger on Crocodile only to fail when he touched the kairouseki walls of the cage and buckled under the influence. When he'd learned that Kairouseki cancelled the Powers of those who had eaten a devil fruit he'd been worried for Robin. But it seems that it's an extremely expensive and rare material as it radiates the sea's energy. The material is also incredibly strong, making it hard to forge and mold to one's preferred form. That one cage only cost Crocodile a fortune.

"You did to come this far "Strawhat", I never expected to actually meet you. Don't worry I'll be killing you very soon." Naruto felt the urge to flinch at the mention but he kept himself still. "But the guest of honor isn't here yet, I've sent my partner to pick her up." Crocodile had another one of his usual evil grins on his face but didn't move from where he was.

They waited in the room for Robin to show up with Vivi, but of course it didn't take all that long for Luffy to become bored. Really it only took him waiting for a few minutes. Pretty soon the captain started to do impressions of people in his crew. The mastermind behind the entire crisis just sat in the room at his table enjoying the glass of wine in his hand. The man didn't really care much for what the Strawhats were doing.

"Sanji impression." Naruto heard Luffy say, he looked to where the cage was and saw Luffy with an imaginary cigarette in his hands, his eyebrows curled and a stoic expression that looked oddly familiar to a certain cook on his crew. "Hey did you eat my meat." Luffy continued. Usopp was laughing out loud and they seemed to be enjoying themselves even in this dangerous situation.

Zoro was actually managing to sleep while Captain Smoker was watching incredulously at how ridiculous this crew was acting. The man probably couldn't believe what he was seeing, Nami didn't seem to take it too well either. "BE SERIOUS, HOW CAN YOU BE LIKE THAT IN THIS SERIOUS SITUATION!" She yelled hitting them both hard on the head.

Atfer getting back up Luffy rubbed the spot Nami hit on his head and pouted a bit, Usopp joined in but glared at Nami, though not too intense otherwise she might just hit them again. "Jeez, we can't get out and it's not like we have anything better to do." Luffy said making his point, but Nami wouldn't have it. "IT'S SERIOUS BECAUSE WE CAN'T GET OUT, WE MIGHT GET KILLED LIKE THIS!"

She turned away from the idiots while muttering angrily before she caught sight of another idiot, she hit Zoro on the head. "AND WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING!" But the swordsman just woke up not even noticing the huge lump that was now on his head, he rubbed his eyes and looked around. "huh is it already morning?" Nami grew another tick mark and got even angrier, if that's possible. "IT'S BEEN MORNING SINCE WE CAME HERE!" She sighed and put her fingers to her head trying to calm down and prevent a headache.

Crocodile had decided to pay attention half way the argument. "You're quite the feisty girl aren't you." Nami looked towards the shichibukai and took on a more competitive stance.

"What? You'd better take this time to compose yourself, once these guys get out of this cage they'll knock your worthless hide above the clouds. Isn't that right Luffy." She said with Luffy yelling in agreement behind her. It didn't look very intimidating though, Zoro was sleeping once again, Smoker was no longer interested or at least he seemed that way, Usopp was hiding behind Nami in fear and Luffy well he was trying to seem intimidating but really he wasn't. That made for a complete picture.

Crocodile also didn't seem very intimidated and just snickered. "You seem to have a lot of trust placed in you." He continued addressing their captain before his eyes suddenly turned very cold. "Trust" he intoned lowly before facing them in his chair and watched them with a very cold smirk. "haha, the most useless thing in this world!"

"Wha? he's just making fun of us!" That just pissed Nami off but Usopp who was too scared tried to keep her from pissing of the shichibukai. They couldn't continue their discussion though as another shrill yell went through the room.

"CROCODILE!" Vivi yelled as she stood on top of the stairs. Naruto turned his attention to her, attentively watching what was going to happen. He saw Robin standing there and she noticed him sitting there almost immediately. A bit of tension left his body as he watched Robin walk down the stairs at a leisure pace.

Crocodile smirked as he watched his guest of honor enter the room. "Well hello, welcome, Vivi princess of Alabasta. Or should I say Miss Wednesday? You have done an admirable job at avoiding all the assassins." Vivi's eyes widened a bit at the mention but the determination in her eyes didn't waver. "Of course I'd come! I'd come from anywhere as long as it means can watch you die Mr. 0!"

But Crocodile didn't budge, if anything he just smirked. "It's your worthless country that is going to die, Miss Wednesday!" Vivi flinched slightly at the sureness of the man's statement, knowing that he was capable of it. But the uncertainty soon disappeared and only fury and determination stayed behind.

Without further ado Vivi ran down the stairs to attack him with her peacock string twirling on her pinky. "IF YOU WEREN'T HERE ALABASTA WOULD BE IN PEACE!" She yelled attacking him. Luffy panicked and yelled at her to open their door first but in her anger she didn't listen and lashed out at Crocodile. "PEACOCK STRING SLASHER!" She yelled while swinging her peacock string right into Crocodile face and through it breaking the chair on its way. Everyone watched in shock as Crocodile's face just disappeared and sand started to float around in its place.

Slowly his entire body started to disappear and more and more sand started to float around Vivi. "Are you satisfied Miss Wednesday?" An eerie voice asked from behind her. Suddenly Crocodile appeared from behind Vivi and held one hand on her mouth to prevent her talking while his other hand, or hook, held Vivi's hand to prevent the use of her weapon.

The Strawhats yelled for her, while Naruto and Robin watched the exchange silently. "Shall I turn you into a mummy?" He asked in a low tone.

"Aah A SAND MAN!" Usopp yelled in his usual scared tone, Luffy though didn't seem all that intimidated. "LET GO OF VIVI DAMMIT, OR I'LL KILL YOU!" He yelled. Crocodile wasn't fazed by the outbursts and just dumped Vivi on a chair at the table with her arms tied behind her. "Sit and stop glaring at me, it's just about time for the party to begin. Am I wrong Miss All Sunday?" He said drawing the attention to her. Before he continued. "You are correct it's past 7!"

"Party?" Nami muttered, but Vivi beat her to the actual question. "WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING!" She screamed at the man responsible for everything. Crocodile stared at her for a moment before a smirk made its way to his face. "What am I planning?" He asked rhetorically, the smirk on his face spreading even further. "Fine let me tell you my magnificent plan. Plan Utopia!" He added dramatically.

Vivi looked like she wanted to desperately yell in his face to stop whatever it was he was planning but she kept quiet. "Your father is confessing to all of his supposed crimes right now in front of the entire city he lives in." He said with huge dark grin on his face. It took a moment for the words to register in her mind before the shocked expression made its way to her face "wha? My father would never do tha... Unless Mister 2!" She realized halfway her sentence.

"Yes, that is it exactly. So what do you think of this Miss Wednesday?" He said grinning. "The people will lose their last bit of faith while the rebellion and royal army clash. If you listen carefully I bet you could hear the shouting all over Alabasta and what do you supposed they'll believe, that we will protect them, protect Alabasta?!" Vivi was now shaking in anger and desperation as he referred to his status as a hero in her country. "STOP IT! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL!?" Vivi shouted.

Naruto who was watching from behind clenched his fists hard, in fact a bit too hard as blood seeped through his fists as his nails cut into his palms. Robin glanced behind her and saw how he was holding up, his expression was still stoic with no indication that he was bothered by what was happening at all but Robin knew better. She'd grown up with him and it was how he handled hard moments, his face would reveal nothing but he'd be a bundle of raging emotions inside that he kept bound together. She only hoped he'd be able to keep it bound together long enough.

"Haha, what a tearjerker one's love for a country is what will destroy it in the end." Crocodile started to laugh at his own sentence while almost everyone looked at him in disgust even though some didn't show it at all. "Haha, I can even remember the hassle I went through to get this far. Collecting members, scraping up enough money to buy enough silver for the dance powder, stirring up towns on the brink of destruction, teaching my employees how to carry out false acts of army corruption, slowly eroding the people's trust in their king and increasing their frustration!" He even almost smiled as if everything was a pleasant memory to look back upon.

Vivi clenched her teeth and pushed herself of the chair and onto the ground. "Whoa there, what do you think you're doing, Miss Wednesday?" Vivi who was on the ground just tried to pull herself up and move away from him towards the exit, but because of the binding on her arms she couldn't get far. "We can stop you! We can still make it in time If we just go straight to Alubarna east from here!" She pulled herself up from the ground as much as she could. "If we can get to Alubarna before the rebellion does! There's a chance we could stop them!" She yelled.

"Ooh? Isn't it odd we were just going there as well, straight to Alubarna to ask your daddy a little question." Putting pressure on the word 'straight'. Vivi gasped when he mentioned her father. Panic written on her expression. "What are you going to do to my father!?" It was less of a yell than before though. Naruto watched passively as he watched the teen struggle.

Crocodile faked surprise as he put his hand into his coat. "Huh, which is more important? Your people or your father, Miss Wednesday?" After a few seconds of searching in his coat he pulled out a key, it was entirely white with some peculiar design on the bow of the key.

"If you want to come with us then go right ahead." He held the key up in front of their faces. After a moment of looking Vivi fired out what it meant. "Is that key..?" But Luffy interrupted her. "A KEY FOR THE CAGE? GIVE THAT DAMMIT!" He yelled.

Crocodile just smirked when everyone figured out what the key was for, he held up the key even more for them to see and maybe even reach but before any of them could even try a small hatch on the ground opened and he let the key fall into it.

"Go and get it Miss Wednesday." He said smirking. Vivi immediately moved to the hatch to catch it but had no luck, looking down she saw it led down to the nest of the Bananawani, ferocious Crocodiles who were so big they could swallow most of their pray whole. They were called Bananawani because they had a small banana growing on their heads. If they had the chance they'd eat her in one bite.

Vivi's arms had finally come loose but even with them loose, she wasn't a match for the Bananawanis.

"There are about 8 hours left until the killing begins, but I don't think you have the time it still takes longer than that to get to Alubarna from here. If you want to get there, you'll have to leave now! Otherwise hundreds of thousands of people will die. Hahaha." He laughed at her before continuing on with a thick layer of sarcasm. "Of course it's up to you whether or not to save these fools. You can go ahead and open this cage, oops too bad I dropped the key through the hole in the floor though!" He laughed again while she just desperately watched the key lay in the Bananawani lair.

"Bananawani?" Luffy muttered loudly from inside the cage, when suddenly a giant Bananawani swum past their cage just outside the window. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw the giant creature. "Whoa whoa! Look at that there's a Crocodile growing out of that banana." The teen yelled in surprise, entirely serious.

Everyone in the cage just stared at their captain and opponent not being able to believe the stupidity of that one sentence. It spoke of their experience that it only took a few seconds for them to shake their heads and to look to where the Bananawani's were.

"Whoa those Crocodiles are huge!" Usopp exclaimed, Nami nodded as she too stared outside. "Wait we're underwater?!" She yelled realizing just where Crocodiles lived. This caught the attention of the other two in the cage as they too looked towards the window. Luffy though was still caught up in his discovery of the "weird banana's." Usopp looked at his captain with exasperation and disbelief before sighing deeply. "Look at them you dumbass, the bananas are growing out of the Crocodile's head. They're weird Crocodiles."

While they were all arguing inside the cage, Vivi was still paying attention to the key that lay in the lair of the Crocodiles. Suddenly though one of the Bananawanis moved into the lair towards the key. "Aah a Crocodile's going to.." But before her sentence finished the Bananawani swooped up the key and swallowed it. Vivi started to panic when she saw this.

"What's wrong Vivi?" Luffy yelled from the cage. Vivi gave them a panicked look. "One of the Bananawanis just swallowed the key!"

"WHAT CHASE IT DOWN, MAKE IT SPIT THE KEY BACK UP!" Luffy yelled with his usual moment logic. Vivi looked down at the weird Crocodile in panic before shaking her head. "I can't do that! Bananawanis are ferocious you know, they eat sea kings! They'll eat me the moment I get close."

"Ooh, I'm very sorry. Those guys think that anything I throw in there is food and besides now you can't tell which one ate it." Crocodile said mocking them with thick layer of sarcasm. The Bananawani swam back into the water mixing with the other.

Nami clenched her fists in frustration as Crocodile laughed once more. "That jerk!" Even Zoro seemed to recognize the seriousness of the situation, he wasn't sleeping anymore and was even adding in his own opinion. "Damn, even if we get out we still have to deal with those reptiles."

But as usual Luffy had a smart/ stupid remark for everything. "Jeez Zoro, we can't get out cause it ate the key dummy!" Zoro grew a tick mark. "I know that!" Interestingly enough though the man still had a red tinge on his face out of embarrassment.

Crocodile smirked as he and Robin started to turn away to the door. "Well then we're going to take our leave now. Also this room will automatically destroy itself in one hour. I don't have any more uses of these secret baroque work bases." He smirked at the expression of the Strawhat crew. He turned to face them once more and held up his arms in an inviting and dramatically way. "One million innocent civilians or four worthless pirates with no future ahead of them? The chances of saving even one of them is slim, the "bet" is yours, miss Wednesday! Do you like gambling?" He said adding the last bit in mockery as Vivi's face screwed up in various emotions.

"Even a princess is powerless in these circumstances. It was too easy to do my work here there are so many idiots. Especially those young rebels and a certain old hole-digging man!" He continued to mock but at the last bit Luffy's head shot up in recognition. "What? You mean old sandy-guy?" Crocodile looked surprised for a moment and seemed to think about something as he put his hand to his chin.

"So you know him? What a stupid old geezer. He keeps digging up a long dead oasis, hahaha hilarious isn't it." He asked rhetorically. "He thinks he can overcome sandstorms over and over!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Luffy yelled mad at the mockery of the old man they had met. Crocodile wasn't bothered though by the outburst he smirked and turned to the captain. "Tell me "Straw-hat Luffy"." Successfully grabbing his attention.

"Do you think a sandstorm can successfully hit a town so many times in a row?" At the mention all of their eyes widened in realization. They understood his insinuation but he continued nonetheless as he showed them a small sandstorm now raging on top of his palm.

"YOU DID THAT?!" Luffy yelled. Vivi slid to the ground realization pouring through he as she remembered the old man she had grown up with. Just digging and digging to save the town. Over and over again, no matter how many times he'd have to start over again because of a sand storm.

Crocodile's smirk never wavered an inch as tears started to fill the corners of her eyes in desperation. She sat there clutching her weapon as her uselessness in the situation overwhelmed her, Crocodile wasn't going to give her anything and there was nothing she could do about it. The terror wasn't going to end until he was gone but there was nothing she could do about it.

Water had finally entered the room as it slowly started to spill over the floor, Usopp was panicking but Vivi wasn't listening. She wanted to so badly get rid of Crocodile right there and then, she raised her weapons in an attempt but in frustration put them down again. There was nothing she could do! Why couldn't she do anything!? Her vision blurred as tears gathered in her eyes.

"VIVI! GET US OUT OF HERE SO WE CAN KICK HIS ASS!" Luffy suddenly yelled, she looked at the captain with glassy eyes. Luffy stood determined and Vivi watched as each and every one of the Strawhats joined him at his side.

"Don't get too conceited little man!" Crocodile said turning back to them slightly as he had heard what Luffy said. Luffy didn't back down though he glared at Crocodile just as hard. "You're the one getting conceited!"

Crocodile didn't seem too bothered by it though and turned to face them once more. Naruto felt it was probably time and he stood up from his corner. "Mister black!" Crocodile said in a tone of authority. Naruto hated that tone but obeyed and appeared in front of them. Seemingly out of nowhere. "Sir." He mumbled, barely sounding respectful if not at all.

The Strawhats seemed shocked that the guy they had met before suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "It's that Mister Black!" Usopp shrieked like a girl in panic, the guy actually fell over for a bit. "Where did he come from." Zoro said instinctively reaching to grip the hilt of his sword even though he couldn't do much with them in a cage.

Naruto kept his passive attitude and emotionless mask and he turned to face both the crew and Crocodile to make it easier to keep everything in vision. Zoro quickly noticed the change in attitude of Mister Black from before when they were on the ship and didn't miss the emotionless expression on the mans face. He tensed in preparation.

"Mister Black." Crocodile said drawing the attention, he smirked. "I want you to observe what happens here and report the end of these pests!" Naruto nodded and walked back into the room and sat down on the table next to where Vivi was sitting. Vivi wasn't watching Mister Black though, as much of a threat he deemed to her she was much more preoccupied with the giant Bananawani that had made its way to her, through a hole that had appeared behind Crocodile.

Crocodile and Miss All Sunday had just stepped out of the way as the Bananawani made its way towards the princess while Naruto just sat there watching.

"BEAT IT UP, VIVI!" Luffy yelled unreasonably as Usopp reprimanded him for it and yet agreed moments later in panic as it approached them. Vivi though wasn't listening and was preparing to stand up to the giant creature in front of her. Crocodile sighed slightly in what almost seemed like disappointment. "Fine you want to fight? Kill them all and the key will in one of their stomachs." He said.

The Bananawani proceeded to attack while Vivi took on her stance to fight it. "PEACOCK STRING.." She started to say but the Crocodile was too fast and attacked her midway the attack, Vivi dodged it just barely causing the Crocodile to bite into the stairs. It didn't stop him though the Crocodile continued to bite until he entirely bit through the stone stairs obliterating it almost entirely in one bite.

"It's so fast!" Usopp yelled. "It crushed the staircase in one bite it must have insanely strong jaws." Stating the obvious. The Bananawani didn't stop though it swiped its tail backwards hitting Vivi right in the stomach. She flew backwards for a bit and swayed unable to find her balance, the Bananawani was about to attack once more when..

"Buruburuburuburu." A sound echoed its way through the room, the Bananawani stopped its attack temporarily in interest for what it was while the Strawhats also seemed to quiet down. Naruto was still half leaning half sitting on the table as he watched Robin pick up the den den mushi. The snail phone.

"Hello?" The voice on the other side said, Naruto immediately recognized the voice 'Sanji'. "Can you hear me?" It continued, Robin put the den den mushi closer to her mouth before answering. "Yes you're "millions" aren't you?" But it seemed that Sanji didn't hear and continued to ask if they heard him.

"I'll just continue to talk like this then." He said calmly after a while, Crocodile though didn't seem to have the patience. "Hey spit it out already. What happened?"

"Ooh that voice? I've heard that voice before." Crocodile just raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Welcome sir, this is shitty restaurant!" Sanji said stoically. Robin who was standing behind Crocodile smiled in amusement while Naruto snickered softly as he remembered that Sanji had used that intro when he talked to Mr. 0 on little garden.

"Shitty restaurant?" Crocodile repeated though still half in thought about where he recognized it. "Ooh you remembered, I'm so happy." Sanji said in mocking happy voice. Crocodile seemed to ponder on something as he held the den den mushi. 'Probably wondering how many more Strawhats are going to show up.' Naruto thought as he watched his 'boss' think.

"Hey did you hear that?" Naruto heard Nami murmur from her place in the cage, everyone else nodded mutely but Luffy didn't seem to get the point. "SANJ..." He started to yell but Usopp covered his mouth in time and looked to see if Crocodile had heard their captain. When Usopp saw he hadn't he turned to Luffy. "Stop Luffy, maybe he doesn't know about Sanji!"

"Who the hell are you?" Crocodile asked. "Me? I am Mister Prince." Crocodile just kept an annoyed expression as he listened to the guy in the side. "I see Mister Prince and where are you?"

"Can't tell ya or you'll come to kill me, won't you? Well, whether you can or not remains to be seen. I give out lots of "info" and unlike you I'm not an idiot." Crocodile's face grew irritated and several tick marks appeared on his head as he listened to mister prince mock him. Before he could make any remarks though the voice of the Strawhats echoed through the room.

"PRINCE! SAVE US! WE'VE BEEN CAPTURED AND DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!" They all yelled. The voice on the other side seemed to laugh slightly. "Well, you know who that sounds like?.. My crew. Very well I'll just be... Ugh!" Suddenly all kinds of noises were hurt from the other side, slashes, sword and guns. Many different noises as they seemed to be fighting. When the sound quieted down The room became quiet to know who had won.

"Hello? Haagh haagh, what should we do with this bastard?" A different voice asked on the other side. The Strawhats were shocked and Vivi panicked slightly, Crocodile though stayed passive with his cigar still in the mouth. "Where are you? Spit it out." He asked in his usual demanding tone.

"Yes sir.." The other quieted for a few seconds as if he was looking around to make sure where he was, "we're in front of a casino called "Rain Dinners" in Rainbase." Crocodile seemed to almost smile at that little fact while the Strawhats were still Panicking.

"That useless better still be alive!" Zoro exclaimed, Luffy just yelled for Sanji on the background in panic. Usopp and Nami were crying as their only hope had supposedly left them. Smoker didn't seem to care though, again. 'Though knowing the man he was probably keeping track of every new bit of information.'

"KUHAHAHA, fine... Let's go to the front gate." He laughed apparently enjoying their current predicament. Robin just smiled as usual but Naruto could see she was still a bit nervous about everything, he had to hand it to her though she could really hide it well. "Are you sure? The 'millions' still don't know who their boss is." But Crocodile just continued to smile. "I'm not going as their boss, only the number agents know who their boss is. What's so weird about Crocodile the owner of the casino coming up to the front door to see what is going on in the world." He asked in an almost sarcastic tone. He was about to leave when the Bananawani suddenly attacked once more.

It seemed to have missed when they saw Vivi hanging from the broken staircase, everyone was surprised but only one actually voice it. "What are you doing Vivi?" Luffy yelled. Vivi tried to pull herself up the staircase. "We still Have some time until the rooms fills with water, I'm going to see if I can get help!" She yelled back. Usopp and Nami agreed hoping that Sanji or Chopper would be able to help them. Vivi pulled herself onto the staircase but the moment she sand started to gather around her slowly forming into the shichibukai that held most of them captive.

Using his hook like hand he grabbed her neck and pulled it backwards, the move made her lose the balance she and acquired and caused her to fall down. The hand smashed her into the ground while smoke made the rest unable to see. The moment it cleared Vivi was lying their unconscious with blood on her head slowly dripping onto the floor. "VIVI!" Luffy and the rest yelled afraid for their friend,

Crocodile looked satisfied at his work and turned to leave together with Miss All Sunday. He turned around once more before opening the door. "If you love your friends so much you can stay here until the water fills up entirely. Mister Black!" He said yelling the last bit, Naruto looked towards Crocodile who was still smirking.

"I want you to observe what happens here, make sure they don't leave for the next 20 minutes after that you are to make your way to Alubarna. Orders from there on have already been given. Do you understand." Naruto nodded emotionlessly while continuously chanting in his mind for the guy to hurry up and leave. "By that time these idiots won't make it to Alubarna in time unless they rode a giant crab!" Laughing at the last bit not believing it for one second. While laughing he opened and walked out the door. Robin followed him but not before turning to Naruto one last time, they both exchanged a reassuring smile silently promising to see each other soon before she left. The door closed leaving them all in a sinking room.

"DAMMIT!" Luffy yelled in frustration. 'What to do now.' Naruto thought, the Crocodiles didn't move as if waiting for orders. He wasn't going to give it any though, Crocodile's orders were to observe. After a few moments of silence and no orders the Bananawani seemed to assume it's former order and tried to attack Vivi. Naruto almost wanted to interfere now that the old freak wasn't there but her breathing told him she was conscious.

"Vivi." The crew yelled as the Crocodile attacked. Vivi pulled herself together, she couldn't let them down after all they'd done for her. She jumped out of the way of the Crocodile's jaw on top of its back. Running across she barely made the jump onto the staircase once more. The Bananawani tried to stop her once more by biting the staircase but it seemed to be too high as she dodged.

"Just hang on a little longer, I'm going to find help. I will not let you die!" She yelled to them. Everyone in the cage, except smoker, cheered at her as she left the room to get someone.

Naruto felt the water soaking up in his clothes, he really didn't want to have to drag wet clothing everywhere so he stood up. The action though drew more attention than wanted, the Strawhats in the cage took on a defensive position as though he was getting ready to attack. He stared at them for a minute before his mask dropped, he didn't have orders to get rid of them and the old fart wasn't there anymore, he laughed as hard as he could almost falling on the ground, almost.

He looked at them and saw Zoro getting slightly red while Usopp and Nami weren't following. "What's so funny! Aah you're that hat stealing kid! You're not getting my hat again!" Luffy yelled in sequence, Naruto who had just started to calm down had a hard time stopping himself for having another laughing fit.

"Hahaha.. it's just.. you're stuck in a cage so why are you getting ready to fight and hat stealing kid? Hahaha." He was still chuckling but had calmed down considerably. Nami just frowned "What's so weird, I mean maybe we can break the cage?" She said trying to point out he was wrong.

Naruto just shook his head. "You probably already know, but that cage is made out of Kairōseki." Nami looked at him with a blank face "and?" Naruto just stared briefly in disbelief before he sighed. "Kairōseki is an incredibly hard stone and almost nothing can break it. The marines have a hard enough time just manufacturing it." Her face seemed to doubt what he said and he jumped onto the table as the water was rising. He saw them tense up for a moment but ignored it. "Need me to prove it to you?" He asked in challenge, he couldn't interfere directly, but Crocodile wasn't there anyway and he just needed to get through the twenty minutes. They didn't give him an answer so he assumed it to be yes, he turned to the giant Crocodile that had been standing there passively. "Could you bite the cage as hard as you can?" He asked politely. He hated it when Crocodile took the animals for granted.

It nodded and charged the cage, the Strawhats panicked for a moment, well most of them. It bit down hard on the cage but there wasn't a dent on it anywhere. The Crocodile had slight pains in its jaw and quickly moved away from the cage. Naruto smiled at it reassuringly. "Don't worry you can do what you want now, get some rest." He saw it nod and swim back down in the lake. He knew other Crocodiles were waiting for their turn but until the windows broke they couldn't get in.

"Believe me now?" He asked them, Usopp and Nami nodded frantically, still in shock. He didn't get the chance to talk to them any further though as captain Smoker interrupted.

"Hey." He said to the Strawhats pulling the attention to him while ignoring Naruto completely. 'His reputation really matches his character.' Naruto thought as the guy sat there calmly not caring. "How much do you know of Crocodile's target?" He said seriously. 'Of course he has to be the smart one' Naruto thought sarcastically.

Luffy had a giant figurative question mark floating above his head while the rest waited for the answer curiously. "That woman with Crocodile... She is an outlaw that has been on the run from the world government for 11 years. The price on her head is more than 70 million Beli." "70 million!" Nami and Usopp yelled together, Smoker was about to continue before a snort made its way through the room.

"What!" Smoker said glaring at the culprit. Naruto just looked in a bored manner. "The price is wrong." He said in a matter of fact tone. "Huh?!" The guy said still smoking on his big cigar. Naruto rolled his eyes "You government dogs really need to keep up, if you're gonna put bounties on people's heads at least remember them properly." He said half trying to rile him up, Robin and him really hated government officials although there were some exceptions. "She has a bounty of 79 million Beri." "79 million!" Usopp exclaimed once more while Nami just rubbed her head.

"Is that a lot?" He heard Luffy ask Zoro in the back, Zoro just shrugged not really knowing the answer. Nami heard this though and hit them both on the head idiot! You've got a bounty of 30 million, she has almost thrice as much!" She yelled, Luffy's eyes widened in shock. "So she's strong!" He asked, Nami hit him on the head once more in exasperation "OF COURSE!"

"Anyhow with the two of them teaming up this isn't just the takeover of a country any longer." He said seriously continuing his previous discussion. "If we don't stop this now, this will develop into a problem that will involve the entire world!"

Naruto just laughed again which grew even louder when Smoker's face got a tinge of red. "Robin take over the world? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" He said in amusement. "Anyhow do any of you know the time?" They looked at him as if he was an idiot and he put up his hands defensively. "Hey, I only have to stay for twenty minutes according to orders." Nami's eyebrow rose inquisitively. "You aren't going to stop us from escaping?" She asked. Naruto just gave them a huge grin.

"Nope, did my order say to do so? They only said to "observe" so I don't have to do a thing and if he doesn't like it screw him!" He said positively the grin never leaving his face. The previous tension seemed to leave the room although the panic on escaping seemed to return as Smoker who had managed to get rid of his embarrassment asked how they were going to escape.

"AAAAH, it's up to my thighs!" Luffy yelled noticing the water rise, he stuck out his tongue in a lazy manner. "Ugh I feel weak." He said dramatically. "Aaaaah we're going to die!" Usopp yelled comically crying while Nami joined him without the yelling but more of the crying.

"Make sure to never make noise when eating your meal." A voice suddenly said echoing through the room. 'Why a meal?' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. A kick came down on his head as he dodged, he jumped onto the wall in one jump and sat back down as Sanji calmly stood in front of the cage. "Hey what was that for." He yelled while standing on the wall upside down.

Everyone watched in shock as he just stood there on the wall, Naruto saw Vivi on the staircase sighing slightly in relief at having found the cook. 'Only five more minutes.' Naruto estimated ignoring all the looks he was getting, the order didn't say anything after the twenty minutes except to go the Alubarna. One thing he noticed though was the widening of Smoker's eyes when his hood came down, his sky blue eyes and sun kissed hair had been revealed. Naruto didn't really care though, only Smoker and Chopper hadn't seen him like this and the latter wasn't even here.

"You're the enemy aren't you?" Sanji yelled back after shaking out of his stupor. Naruto just sighed. "Yeah but I only have orders to observe!" He stated making his point. The information seemed to shut Sanji up as his attention turned back to the cage though he was still suspicious and kept up his guard.

"Oi!" Smoker yelled as he stared, everyone turned to him before following his gaze. Naruto just stared back in a bored manner even though he was the target of the intense stare. "You're the yellow flash aren't you?" He yelled. Naruto just gave him a smirk that said it all. "So?" Smoker's glare increased the moment he answered, but he was stuck in a cage so there wasn't much he could do.

"Yellow flash? What's that about?" Sanji asked. Smoker continued to glare at Naruto but he didn't give him any attention. "Bounty nickname." He stated to them casually, he could lie but he still didn't like lying to them if he didn't have to. "Hoo, how much?" Sanji continued though the surprise was still obvious, Naruto didn't look any of them in the eye as he answered. "79 million." Sanji whistled at the amount apparently impressed.

Naruto smiled at them as he jumped down from the roof and stood on top of the water. The Strawhats had seen it before and weren't as surprised, they still seemed curious though. As abruptly as the conversation had started it ended and Naruto just sat quietly waiting for the time to end. After about half a minute the Strawhats had enough and went back to their own predicament and Naruto watched.

'3, 2, 1, 0! Time's over now let's see what I can do here!' He thought as he watched them debate over a solution that didn't sound like any.

"That's why we use Zoro's sword! We can pick the lock!" Luffy said with another great, note the sarcasm, idea. This time though both Zoro and Nami hit him on the head not even bothering to explain that a sword is much too big for the lock. He smiled at the group as they continued to bicker.

He didn't notice Vivi who had been watching him since he jumped down the wall, she'd caught a glimpse of something on his left arm when he jumped down. She climbed down the staircase carefully making her way to him, she froze for moment though when she saw the sincere smile he had when watching the group. After a moment she finally started to move again.

After a few minutes of watching Naruto suddenly felt hands on his left arm trying to pull up the cloth. The moment he saw the bandage on his left arm his eyes widened in realization and he pulled away his arm. He immediately jumped away from the culprit to stop another attempt.

'Damn only they seem to be able to get me of guard and this time it's serious, I hope she didn't see!' He thought frantically, he pulled his hood over his head as he tried to get a reign over the feeling that were in panic mode.

He watched as Vivi gasped and her eyes opened in realization, 'yep she saw!' "You saw didn't you?" He asked mostly just to make sure. She nodded but couldn't seem to find her voice, for a moment two almost glowing sky blue eyes flashed in front of her and she could swear that she saw the sadness in them before any emotion or sign of them just disappeared.

"Wait! Are you..?" But before she could continue Naruto had hit her on the neck rendering her unconscious. Naruto caught her before she fell and put her down on the table out of the water.

"AAAH VIVI-CHAN. WHAT DID YOU DO!" Sanji yelled, he turned to Naruto and glared at him. Before Naruto could say anything Sanji had already charged towards him and tried to kick him in his side. Naruto caught the attack and using the attack against the cook guided Sanji across the room.

Sanji immediately tried to stand up but Naruto wasn't going to stay for long. Not caring any longer he took a few steps back and with a yellow flash he was standing on top of the staircase. 'Well now they know why my nickname is yellow flash!' He thought absently. He hit a hidden compartment by the door as another key revealed itself. He tossed it into the room next to Sanji who was still struggling to stand.

Naruto breathed in, calmed himself and turned to face them. He gave them a mock bow and a fake smile acting the same he did the first time he met them with Robin. "20 Minutes have passed and my job has ended now I must apologize as I seem to have attacked the princess. As an apology I have opened the cage. Now I must take my leave, I hope to not see you again or you will regret it!" He said, the last bit though sounded a bit forced, he wasn't really lying, it just wasn't entirely true either. He left the room without turning around. He didn't want to meet them now that they would know who he was.


	20. Betrayal and Truth

**Chapter 20**

 **Uragiri soshite Shinjitsu**

Seconds after Mister Black had left the room, the windows finally gave way under the pressure the water exerted on it. With the way opened to them, the Bananawanis made their way into the room.

"We have to leave the room!" Nami yelled as the last people walked, or rather tried to walk, out of the cage Sanji had opened. The amount of water seemed to double with every minute they stayed in the room.

"But those Crocodiles are still in the way!" Usopp yelled in a shrill voice, the teen being unable to keep his cool with all the bananas, as their captain would say, staring at them. On the verge of panic he turned around… to see Luffy, Sanji and Zoro had already taken care of them. For a moment he stared at the monster trio of his crew before shaking his head with a sigh. Really those three were way beyond the understanding of common folk.

"Well okay, that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore... Let's get out of here!" The moment Usopp yelled that, the inflow of water suddenly increased as even more windows broke around them. The water rose and rose before swallowing each and every one of them into its depths.

Nami immediately made her way to Vivi as Sanji joined her in helping their friend. Usopp grabbed Luffy, for obvious reasons, while Zoro took care of Smoker as he too had started to sink like Luffy. The green haired man didn't really want to but his captain had yelled at him to do so just before the water filled the room. A captains orders couldn't just be disregarded either. They swam through the windows up towards the surface.

When they finally broke the surface everyone gasped for air before dragging their fellow companions onto land. When everyone had finally gotten a few breaths and stopped coughing up water they looked around. Usopp looked at Zoro before he noticed something he hadn't quite been expecting to see.

"Aah Smoker! Zoro, why'd you save our enemy!" Zoro refused to deign Usopp with a proper answer and just grumbled that it wasn't his choice. Too focused on Usopp he almost missed the brief glimmer from the corner of his eyes. With practiced ease the man pulled yubashiri from its sheathe and blocked the tip of the jutte with the side of his katana. He forced it to stay in that position as Smoker glared at him hatefully.

"Roronoa, why'd you save me?!" The captain demanded from his position. Zoro just stared back passively before sheathing his sword, despite the jutte still pointed at him.

"Don't worry about it. Captain's orders. You don't have to thank me either, it was only Luffy being weird." Smoker continued to glare, despite the evident surprise in his eyes. He pulled back his jutte but didn't move to change his offensive stance. "So you don't have any complaints then if I continue to do my duty as an official." He asked casually, his glare still focused entirely on the swordsman. The giant cigar still in his mouth despite the recent ordeal that had happened.

Sanji too moved to stand up after having removed his shoes, holding one upside down he emptied it before moving to put it back on. After having repeated the process with the other shoe the cook lit a new cigarette and put it in between his lips. "See? That's what you get for saving that stupid sailor." He told Zoro.

"AAH WHERE ARE YOU CROCODILE!" A very familiar voice yelled loudly from behind them. It seems their captain had woken up and was glaring at nothing in particular. Or rather the target was nowhere to be found. Nami, who after a few minutes of trying to ignore the teen had enough of all the noise, hit him on the head. With a newly placed bump on his head Luffy calmed down before he noticed the marine standing behind him.

"AH SMOKEY! YOU WANNA FIGHT?!" He yelled moving into his usual fist fighting stance only to get hit again by Nami. Smoker watched incredulously as the entire crew seemed to relax into a familiar routine despite the situation. It was almost intriguing to watch the interaction between each member. There was this sense of ease that he'd never seen before within a pirate crew.

He didn't get to watch for long though as marines were starting to gather and moving to aid their superior. Luffy who was still in a battle stance seemed to have stare down with Smoker before the man sighed and moved to look the other way.

"Go!" He said causing Luffy to tilt his head in confusion. "Only this time will I let you go. Next time we meet you're a dead man, remember that Strawhat!" Luffy stared for a moment before the rest of the crew urged him to move. Nami had picked Vivi up, who was still unconscious, on her back while the rest all got ready to run. Luffy turned to face the marine one more time with a wide grin, "You know I don't hate you at all."

Smoker got a little red in the face before anger took over. He swiped his jutte at Luffy who ran away in panic but with an excited laugh. The marine watched as the crew left while he motioned his platoon from chasing after them. There were many protests but he didn't listen to them as he watched the strange crew move away in the distance. 'Just this once.'

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Where's that camel when you need him!" Nami yelled as they ran at the edge of the city. Usopp who was panting harshly also couldn't help but complain. "Don't tell me we have to walk all the way to Alubarna!" But as they were distracted by their current situation, Sanji focused on their path ahead and couldn't help but grin at what he saw.

"I don't think we'll need to, Usopp!" He motioned in front of them. Each and every one of them looked to where the cook was pointing. Moving towards them from the distance was Chopper... Sitting on a giant crab. It seemed to be running at high speeds over the desert sand.

"Hey there guys!" Chopper yelled at them from the small distance left. The reindeer pulled on the reigns that were tied to the upper corners of the crabs mouth and got him to stop. The reigns seemed to pull the crab's mouth into a wide grin, though that might have been there from the beginning. Its right scissor was bigger than its left and the eyes seemed to pop out of his head, they probably did. On top of his 'head' he had this soft fabric like skin that was really soft to the touch. It was coincidentally the same spot Chopper had been sitting before moving to the front of the crabs head when he spotted the rest of them.

As soon as the crab stopped it didn't take long for the crew to make their way on its back. Chopper explained to them that eyelashes, the camel they had found on their way to Yuba, had plenty of friends everywhere. The camel sitting next to him puffing up his chest with pride. Chopper muttered slightly about most of them being perverted though before he continued to explain. "They're really fast and it will help us continue through the desert." The youngest of the group muttered a slight command to the crab and it started moving again with them on top. The speed the crab could reach was considerably high as they moved through the desert. Of course it didn't take very long for the most predictable thing ever to happen once more.

Luffy became bored… and obviously couldn't quite keep it to himself.

"Are we there yet?" He yelled from his lazy position on his stomach. Sanji just looked at his captain with irritation. "What do you think?" He asked sarcastically. Luffy didn't seem to hear the obvious clue in the cooks voice though, perking up straight away. "So we're there?!" The excitement practically dripped off of his voice and Sanji lost his cool. One would think that they'd get used to their captains behavior, but it seems to be harder than expected to do so.

"No you idiot! Didn't Vivi tell us that it would take a while to reach Alubarna?!" He hit Luffy on the head as the rubber teen couldn't even keep his attention focused on his cooks speech. Halfway through he started to nod off.

That side of the crabs guests seemed to be the only side unable to amuse themselves. On the other side of the crab Usopp was telling Chopper about his heroic meeting with an ancient crab. "It was then that the crab ran through the desert at high speeds. But as he ran around me in circles I couldn't take it anymore. The little fact annoyed me so much that I yelled, "YOU BOWLEGGED FREAK!" At that moment all the crabs in the world heard. They were so ashamed of their legs that they started to walk sideways." Usopp said, making all kinds of exaggerated movements as he told his story. Chopper hung on every word the liar spoke and could only nod in excitement as that particular tall story continued to grow.

"Wow so that's why crabs walk that way!" The sparkle in his eyes only proved that the reindeer believed every word Usopp said.

Next to the pair of storytellers was Zoro, who was once more extensively training, of course using the only options at hand. He had balanced Eyelashes on one of his sword and was lifting the camel up and down. Nami for once was content just watching as the group each did their own thing, Vivi's head was on her lap. She was trying hard to keep her calm though despite all the noise. She could feel it wouldn't be long though before she lost it. But before she could once more try and interfere Vivi started to wake up.

"Everyone calm down! Vivi's waking up."

Only a few precious seconds later everyone was surrounding Nami as they all waited anxiously for their friend to wake up.

"Uuh... Where am I?" The princess groggily asked as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Luffy pressing his face in real close. Having the shock of her life she did what every panicked person would do and hit him... In the face.

Luffy flew back and landed a little further away from them. Nobody commented on the strange situation though, Luffy had it coming.

"Vivi-chwan! How are you feeling?" Sanji asked her excitedly. Nami just sighed at least a little relieved the rest of the crew gave her the space she needed. "Arigatō Sanji-san, I'm fine now." She smiled slightly to show them she was alright. Nami though wouldn't let it go that easily.

"Are you really sure you're alright? The way you were hit by Mister Black didn't seem all that comfortable." Vivi absently rubbed her neck in the same spot she was hit. "No oddly enough it's as if I haven't been hit at all. No lingering pain or bruises, though that might be because..." She trailed of slightly as she stared off into space. The Strawhat, well everyone except for Luffy, exchanged worried looks. Nami opened her mouth to ask something before the look on Vivi's face cut her off. Vivi had a stern but determined look on her face as she turned to them. "Everyone I've got something I want to share before we get to Alabasta. I..."

Before she could continue any further she was interrupted. Everyone watched on in shock as sand gathered around her middle. Slowly the sand formed a golden hook that grabbed onto Vivi and pulled her off the crab. It all happened within seconds and she didn't quite have the time to react.

"VIVI!" They all yelled in shock. "Chopper stop the crab!" Zoro exclaimed to the reindeer, but before anyone could do anything Luffy had jumped after the princess with his incredible reflexes. He yanked her off the hook and held onto it himself as he threw Vivi back onto the crab's back.

"LUFFY!" She yelled worriedly, stumbling back onto the crab, within a few more seconds she had restored her balance and moved to follow after him. The rest of the crew grabbed her shoulders to make sure she didn't jump off the crab. They all looked at their captain worriedly but he himself didn't seem to feel the same.

"YOU GUYS GO AHEAD! I'LL BE FINE BY MYSELF!" Luffy yelled as they held onto Vivi. "MAKE SURE YOU GET THERE! GET VIVI TO THE PALACE!" Everyone looked on as Luffy let himself get pulled away by the hook. Zoro muttered a small, 'idiot' before he turned to face Chopper. "Head straight to Alubarna Chopper!" Zoro ordered as he watched his captain smile at them reassuringly. "We're gonna leave him here?" Usopp asked slightly panicked. Vivi agreed with him wholeheartedly as she too started to feel a rush of panic.

"LUFFY!" But Nami squeezed her shoulder as she tried to reassure her. "Luffy will be fine Vivi! Rather I feel sorry for them. There isn't a single person who has tried to fight Luffy and gotten away safely." Nami herself though didn't seem to be entirely sure this time, but she held onto the hope. Zoro joined in as he let go of Vivi's shoulder. "Understand Vivi? He will stop Crocodile." The swordsman was a lot more sure of his statement and his body language only seemed to reinforce it. Almost as if this decision was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The moment the rebels moved to attack this country's 'limit' was defined. If the army and the rebels collide, this place is done for! If you are our only hope in stopping this then you must stay alive, no matter what! And it doesn't matter what happens to any of us!" He turned to face Vivi to affirm how important this was. Vivi was shocked as she finally felt the dangers she would have to involve her friends in. The implication that had, up to that point, seemed so much less serious and intimidating.

"But.." She tried, Sanji though wouldn't let her as he too turned to face her while watching Luffy land on the sand in the distance. "Vivi-chan, you helped set this fight up." He began, "years ago you left your country and began fighting an organization you knew nothing about. However you're no longer fighting on your own." Even Usopp who was shaking like a leaf in the back ground tried to put in some words of reassurance, shakily as they were.

Vivi held her breath as she listened to every one of them. She took one deep slow breath "LUFFY-SAN! WE'LL BE WAITING IN ALUBARNA!" She yelled at her loudest. "YEAH" Their captain yelled back in from the distance he now was. The teen landed on the sand right in front of their enemy. Vivi watched as Luffy moved to stand up and took on his usual fighting position. She could see that Crocodile didn't move in any way to reciprocate the movement, he probably didn't even see him as a threat. She moved her eyes to the people standing next to him. She could still clearly recognize Miss All Sunday standing next to Mr. 0 as usual, but what had her attention this time wasn't either of them.

She did not see Mister Black with them.

Now that Vivi had seen what he wore on his arm she couldn't help but hold hope that he would be able to help. Despite everything it could mean she couldn't believe these last two weeks to have been nothing but lies. She couldn't believe that both the tears and laughter were all fake. She didn't want to believe and because of that she held onto that small bit of belief as all three of them slowly moved out of sight as they moved onwards to Alubarna. She wanted to believe that Naruto-kun would help Luffy when it came to it, she needed to believe it.

With that in mind she turned back to the rest of the crew and pushed her worries to the back of her mind. Now that they had a moment of relative rest before they would have to interfere with everything, she had to tell them.

"Everyone I have something to tell you before we get to Alubarna!" Everyone turned back to her from the places they'd been watching Luffy disappear into the distance. Vivi took a deep breath before exhaling and breathing in once more. Her worry returned quickly but it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been before.

"I think I've figured out where Naruto-kun might be." She told them. The reaction was immediate as everyone looked shocked. "Really? How and where is he?" Nami asked perplexed. Zoro just kept quiet as he watched with narrowed eyes from the back. "Really Vivi? Where?" Chopper asked happily excited to see the new friend he'd made again. Usopp nodded enthusiastically from next to the reindeer. Vivi smiled slightly before holding up her hands, "Really everyone calm down and I'll explain." They all moved closer to her curious about where they're last nakama was.

Vivi's smile though didn't stay put for long as it turned slightly sad. Some of them could see where this was going as Vivi opened her mouth to talk. "I think Mister Bushido was right." She stated in a quiet voice. It took a moment for some of them to realize what she meant before they moved to deny but Vivi just held her hands up. "Hold on for a moment. I don't think it's an entirely bad thing, I won't deny what it could mean but please listen first!" She said slightly desperate. Mouths that had been opened to retort slowly closed as the attention returned. "Remember when we were trapped in Rain Dinners and Crocodile had just left?" She asked them.

"Yeah." Almost everyone said in their own way, each of them as curious as the next. "Well back then I noticed something when you were all busy talking to Mister Black." She paused for a minute and took a deep breath. "When Sanji tried to attack him he jumped to the ceiling right? Well when he was up there his left sleeve moved up a little and I could see something." Vivi could see realization in the eyes of some of the crew members but she didn't stop. "I could see a piece of cloth wrapped tightly around it. I wondered for a moment if I had seen it right so I snuck up on him while you guys were busy with each other."

"Vivi!" Nami yelled shocked that she would approach someone that could potentially be very dangerous.

"Yes I know but I needed to confirm it! Anyway I grabbed him by his arm and pulled up his sleeve. It was definitely there, a piece of cloth just like ours!" She let that statement sink and could see the remaining member draw conclusions. Zoro was the first to talk after having been quiet for a while. "It's plausible but to draw conclusion on only that is a little quick. We wear these things because there are people like Mister 2 that can imitate us, is there anything else?"

Vivi nodded, "Yes. The moment I saw that piece of cloth I drew conclusion based on only that but I did want to confirm it. But I didn't get the chance as he asked me if I'd seen it. It wouldn't be strange for someone to ask that except that he'd looked very panicked. I only had the chance to nod before he moved and knocked me unconscious." Zoro nodded. "Also" she continued. "Something Chopper said fits too."

"Me?" Chopper asked incredulously, Vivi just nodded. But before she could say anything, Nami hit her hands together as a sign of her sudden understanding. "Of course! You mean the time Chopper thought he'd found Naruto don't you?" She asked. Vivi just nodded once more. "Chopper you thought you could smell Naruto didn't you? But you also said that it was different. Can you remember why?"

The attention turned towards Chopper, the small reindeer tried to shy away from the attention but the serious mood forced him to calm down and concentrate. He took a few deep breaths before facing the crew. "Yeah, it smelled like Naruto but it was like there were two scents mixed up together. One I could definitely recognize as Naruto and one I didn't recognize at all." He explained, Vivi smiled in thanks. "Yes what if what you smelled was Naruto but the fox part of him. Did that other part smell anything like maybe human?" She asked. Chopper's eyes lit up slightly as followed on her line of thinking. "Yeah! I think that might actually be it, it's mixed so I really can't recognize it all that well but it is similar to the smell of a human."

"Also when Ace told us what Naruto had told him? That fits too." Sanji lit up another cigarette as he listened to everything being told before adding, "You mean the part about us not finding him even if he were in front of us?" Vivi nodded.

Zoro just sighed as he listened. "Well I think that does sum up a lot. So you think Naruto is Mister Black?" He asked voicing the matter out loud. Everyone looked at Vivi. She could see they didn't want to believe but a lot of her arguments seemed valid.

"Yes, if he has two smells it wouldn't be odd for Chopper not to recognize it. He's never met Mister Black before. He could avoid us by becoming human, we wouldn't know because we only know him as the fox, Naruto. Lastly I think his reaction to my discovery pretty much proved it." Everyone became quiet as they tried to process the information that their friend might be an enemy they will have to fight. Surprisingly Usopp was the first to recover verbally, "Vivi? You just said you don't think it's too bad of a thing but why do you think that? He might be our enemy if Mister Black is really Naruto. If it's true it'll even mean he's been working under Crocodile the entire time!" He asked even becoming slightly distressed and more than a bit worried.

Vivi nodded sadly, "I know. But I just can't make myself believe his time with us was all lies! Can you believe all those smiles and grins were pretend even those ridiculously funny blushes or that time he cried when we put on a play?" She asked them all. She could see that most of them couldn't quite retort, they wanted to believe with all their heart that it was true. Zoro nodded, "But you know even if they were true it doesn't take away the fact that right now he's someone else. He's a part of Crocodile's organization and as far as I can see he does follow his orders." Everyone could see that Zoro was viewing everything from a neutral side but even he couldn't deny the time they spend together. If anything Zoro had been slightly closer to Naruto than a lot of them. After all a lot of time was spent on keeping Zoro away from training when he'd hurt his foot.

Vivi could the see the doubt spreading around but she kept firm on her opinion. "You're right Mister Bushido. I think that's something he would probably do but I also don't think he's doing this entirely because he wants to. Ace also said that Naruto had muttered something before he left, remember? That he couldn't leave her? Well I think he meant Miss All Sunday. The way those two interacted when we first met them was different from how they both acted in front of Crocodile. Besides he did listen to the orders he was given but he never abused them. From what I heard he even freed you guys and he apologized for attacking me!" She was almost desperately trying to make her point when she neared the end. The rest of the crew watched and nodded slightly but Sanji just sighed.

"Vivi-chan, I know you want to defend him but right now we need to keep our options open. You have the rebellion to worry about. We'll definitely go after Naruto later, if we have to we'll pound the reason he left us and why he's with Crocodile out of him. But right now we have to focus on what's in front of us and unless we meet Naruto right now, I don't think we can afford to split our attention like this." He said wisely. Nami nodded and also turned to Vivi.

"Yeah, that fox can take care of himself, right now we have to make sure that your country is safe. After that we can drag his ass back here and interrogate him all we want!" At the last bit she winked while Usopp and Chopper cheered in the background. Vivi smiled at the trust the crew held in one another and even in their missing crew member. She took a deep breath and calmed down once more determined to focus on one thing at a time. "Ok, but if any of us meet Naruto-kun on the way give him a hit to the head for me?" She asked them innocently as she finally figured out what to do first. They all smiled and smirked respectively.

"We'll definitely stop Crocodile from letting this happen and when we're done we'll drag Naruto-kun's butt back here!" Each one of them saw the determined face she had and responded in chorus, "YEAH!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Naruto ran across the desert agilely as he poured generous amounts of chakra to the soles of his feet. His speed was quite high as he tried to calm his nerves. He'd definitely been discovered now, he could practically see the recognition in Vivi's eyes. It was to be expected though and really he had been a bit reckless back then. It was relieving that Crocodile had left such a loophole in his orders but now it didn't matter. They would find out about him and then ... Then what? Would they hate him, feel betrayed or even disgusted? Either way he really didn't want to know. He didn't.

He ran for quite a while, which considering his speed implied he wasn't taking the most straightforward route to his destination. Naruto had purposely taken the long route. That way he didn't have to see Crocodile for a bit and he could rebuild the barriers around his heart. When that was done he would go to meet Robin, who was according to the plan with Crocodile. He couldn't allow her to reach the capital on her own, taking Crocodiles actions into account, that would be too dangerous.

For a moment he stopped his high pace and slowed down to reach into his pouch. He searched around for a bit before he found what he had been looking for. Slowly pulling out of the pouch he revealed the bandana he'd worn as a fox. To him it was one more symbol of peaceful memories, one he'd wear during his adventures as a fox. Often when he'd had enough of the cruel world he would go out exploring. Robin, who understood and had her own ways of escaping their harsh reality, would smile and send him off. It was only in those times that he would truly feel peaceful. No pressure from people trying to find or hurt them, no worries about how to act and finally the anonymity to do as he pleased. Knowing Robin was safe and he could not be found.

He would visit unknown islands and go exploring, or meet new friends, though they were mostly animals. One time he'd even gone flying on the back of a bird. As a fox he'd made plenty of friends and nakama but never did he allow them too close. Despite those peaceful moments, there was always a sliver of doubt in the back of his mind. They would leave him, the both of them were far too much trouble. Not allowed to live freely in this rotten world.

It was always because of that sliver doubt that he'd never been able to let anyone besides Robin in easily. The few times that someone came close to managing to do so, he'd forced himself to leave first. To be the one to break the bond.

Yet this time he'd neglected that.. scratch that, without noticing they'd broken down his barriers. In only two measly weeks they'd given him a set of memories that could last him lifetimes. They'd literally made second place on his priority list only a little behind Robin, who would always be at first place.

The thought of having to be their enemy was almost unbearable yet unavoidable now. He would eventually have to face them whether because of Crocodile's orders or to protect Robin. If it came to it he could care less about orders and was almost sure he would be breaking them. Yet it was Robins dream they had been pursuing in the last year, his too but by this point that was just a minor detail.

Would he really sacrifice all that for people he'd come to know in two weeks? All because they'd treated him like one of their own?

 _Yes_

It shouldn't have been surprising for him to be so determined about it, but if it came to it he knew Robin would understand. And that was just it wasn't it? Robin would understand, despite everything he knew she would be on his side no matter what. Even if the straw hat crew would come to hate him she would stand by him. He could.. no he would protect them. The number of those he wanted to protect had increased and he wanted the list to stay that long.

Now that he'd found his determination he put the bandana back into his pouch and reached for a small scroll. Once on their journey they'd found a small book in some obscure literature shop. Apparently what was written was almost illegible but to Naruto it was familiar. Everything that was written on the scroll and still legible needed to be referenced with the symbols and pictures he could still vaguely remember. Without any knowledge of chakra and the culture he'd only grown up in during his youth one wouldn't figure out much. But despite everything he still remembered and could recognize the script his grandfather figure taught him in his early years. It was familiar to him and precious in many ways.

Upon realizing this Robin had brought him the book with the last bit of money they'd had. Though his reading was bad and it was horrible for him to even get motivated, he was determined to finish the book for her. When he did, it was worth it. The book explained on how to do something called sealing. It was an obscure art that used ink, blood and intricate patterns to do things. Yeah very specific, he'd thought so too. Eventually though a few of them were definitely worth the effort. One of those was the scroll he was now holding.

Smoothly he opened the scroll in one single action before biting hard onto the tip of his finger. When a small stream of blood appeared he wiped it directly onto the circle in the middle of the scroll. He formed his hands into a standard ram seal before giving it a surge of chakra. The surge of chakra is something he figured out, it forwent a verbal command. This way he could, if necessary, use it in a delicate situation.

Only a small amount of smoke blew around him quietly before clearing out. Now laying on the scroll was a new cloak and a set of kunai. Quickly he put the kunai in the pouches on his legs before taking off the cloak he was already wearing. It was old, battered and long overdue. He switched the old cloak with the new ones and closed it entirely this time. He resealed the old cloak into the scroll.

When he was finally done putting everything in its place he rolled the scroll back up and put it in the pouch once more. After he'd finished he continued down the road he'd been on. This time though with a little more leisure. He could make it to the capital much faster than anyone else and for the moment Crocodile was busy with his plan. Robin would be safe until both armies started to fight each other and it would still be awhile until that started.

Slowly he walked through the sand, his pace steady and controlled. It was only after about half an hour that he came upon an interesting sight, yet also a startling one. Laying there on the ground was Luffy, very bloodied and wounded. Worry was quick to make him panic inside before he saw the figure next to him. The man was dressed in a white robe with black diamond and star like motifs. He was also wearing a matching hat, though it was more a piece of fabric wrapped around. Other than that he had a curious orange bead necklace around his neck and an oddly decorated sword. Naruto quickly put a name to the man's face as he neared.

 _Pell, Alabasta kingdom's commander of the royal guards. A protector of the king and Vivi._

As the information ran through his mind he slowly calmed down. The man was known to be kind and very loyal to the king and princess. If anyone Luffy would be safe with him. Though depending on whether Luffy knew or not he supposed he could help a bit. Moving forward a bit he breathed in deeply and calmed any of his leftover nerves. Slowly his usual mask when interacting with other managed surface. Before long he was standing in front of them.

"Who are you?!" The guard yelled menacingly reaching for his sword. To Naruto it seemed a bit much but considering both their wounds he didn't hold them to it. From the corner of his eyes he watched Luffy glance up at him from his wounded state. The boy's entire appearance almost had him wince but he kept his impassive outlook. His eyes only passed Luffy before returning to Pell.

"No one important. Though looking at your wounds I'd say you need help." He stated neutrally. Pell seemed surprised but his wariness didn't dissipate in any way. Luffy though didn't seem to share the same feeling in anyway as he stared openly at Naruto. "AH! You're the guy that stole my hat!" He yelled pointing at him. Naruto glanced at him before raising only an eyebrow. The disinterest though didn't seem to deter the captain in any way.

"Well, that's not important right now. What I need is MEEAAAT!" The abrupt yell surprised both the other men standing there though only one showed it. Naruto though chuckled slightly his emotional filter not quite holding out in front of his captain. "I think your wounds need tending to first." He tried logically. But the rubber boy only shook his head in defiance and kept yelling for the usual delicacy.

Giving the boy a gentle smile that didn't go unnoticed by the guard he finally sighed. "Alright!" Luffy's eyes immediately sparkled with delight. Naruto though wouldn't let him off so easily. Stealthily reaching into his pouch he quickly fetched his medicine pills. He had a few which would give an energy and healing boost for about half a day. The only aftereffects were extreme fatigue and bodily pains. Though the last probably didn't work for the rubber boy. Besides grabbing the pills he also grabbed some dried beef jerky he'd been saving up from an earlier kill.

Efficiently he threw the strips of jerky into the hands of the captain. "MEAT!" And without another prompt he immediately dug in. Pell though only seemed more surprised and still very suspicious. "Wher.." But before he could finish his question Naruto smoothly launched both his medicinal pills into their throats. The angle was exactly right as they swallowed on instinct.

Luffy wasn't in any way alarmed and only wondered for a few moments before returning to his food. Pell though wasn't the same, "What did you just do?!" He all but demanded. Naruto held up his arms in a placating manner. "I fed you medicinal pills, in a few minutes you should feel the effect. They should supply you with temporary heightened healing and energy, you'll need it. Side effect are extreme fatigue and bodily pains after it stops working, which is after about half a day. Kind of like muscle pains from overuse." He explained earnestly.

The guard still seemed suspicious but slightly more calm. The pills had probably started to work causing the man to feel the effects. Once Pell finished examining his own body and its reactions, his attention was back on Naruto. "Why do this? Why help us? What is your goal?!" Naruto though just gave the man an irritatingly calm smile before turning around and walking away from them.

He hadn't even taken four steps before he felt a hand latch onto his wrist. He turned around to see Luffy hand stretched out and holding onto him. "Luffy-san, why are you holding onto my hand?" The boy grinned widely.

"You know, you aren't such a bad guy!" The words stung deeply but he ignored it. Giving the boy a slight smirk he shook the hand off. "Well then I guess you aren't a very good judge of character." He stated. Pell watched the exchange with confusion while Luffy's grin didn't disappear at all. "But you gave me meat, so you're a good person!" He said as if the world couldn't be more right.

"Even if that person worked for Crocodile?" He gave a dark smile when Pell reacted violently. The man tried to get up to attack only to sink back to the ground when his body gave out. It would take a minute or so more before the medicine started to work. "Even after a forcefully knocking the princess out?" His mocking expression didn't leave his face at all and Pell only got more infuriated by the minute. Luffy though didn't seem to be perturbed at all and continued to grin.

"But you apologized for that didn't you?"

This time it was Naruto's turn to pause in surprise. The simple honest statement was the last thing he'd expected as a reaction. In Luffy's eyes he saw no anger, disgust or hatred only pure honesty. It was exactly one of the aspects he liked about his captain. Apparently his shock reached his face as Luffy turned his head in confusion.

"Is that wrong? I definitely heard you apologize." He muttered as he pondered on. Naruto smiled slightly as he watched the captain confuse himself before turning around once more. "Believe whatever you want! Either way I'll be there by Miss All Sunday's side." Without another glance back he disappeared from sight in a blast of speed.

While he'd been standing next to them he saw a few tracks that he recognized. Robin often drove the oddest creatures when racing. They always seemed to like Naruto and listen to Robin so it was the perfect combination. Either way though he saw tracks of an F-wani, which meant Robin had been there. Crocodile absolutely refuses to use an F-wani, besides he could travel by sand and it's not as if he could take Robin with him when doing so. Notching up his speed he moved through the desert with only flashes barely seen of him. Within minutes he'd crossed the river between Rainbase and Alubarna. It only took him another five minutes or so before finally catching up with his partner.

Seeing the F-wani racing in front of him he quickly caught up before knocking on the window. Surprised Robin looked up from her book only to smile when she saw him. Quickly giving the F-wani a sign to stop. It took the smaller bananawani a while to stop but within a few moments it was done. Robin carefully opened the door to her little vehicle on the wani's back. "Naru! I was expecting you a lot sooner." When she saw his serious expression though her eyes became a bit sharper. "Naruto did something happen?"

Naruto smiled a little, "Yeah it did Ro and I need to talk to you about something important."


	21. Decision and The king of Arabasta

**Sorry for the delay. I had a bit of trouble deciding where to go as this was, in my head, one of the most important twists of my story. I had several way I wanted it to go.**

 **I honestly just love building up relationships and then working towards a big reveal. That's why I wasn't quite sure which way to continue. Either way I will be veering off from the manga a bit more from here on. I did it a little up till now, but now I might change random small things to maybe even the bigger plot.**

 **Besides The strawhat crew aren't the only pirates I like, be forewarned I am probably very cliché. But I like it that way.**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Ketsuron to arabasta no** **Kokuō**

It took Naruto and Robin no less than an hour to travel from the desert of Rainbase to Alubarna. They had the advantage though of travelling a la F-wani. Despite its looks though, it was still a Bananawani and it definitely knew how to swim. Helping them cross the river was definitely a boon in Naruto's eyes. Sure he could run across and even carry Robin across, but she always refused that. No matter the situation if it was her choice she would never be 'manhandled' in such a manner.

At times exceptions may be made for life and death situations though.

Soon enough they approached the city of Alubarna and moved towards the castle. The mood grew tenser by the second and neither of them was looking forward to this.

"Ne Robin, you know I ain't gonna leave you there with him alone right. Not without a way for me to get to you if you need it. Naruto murmured as he could see the corners of Robin's lips tighten up as her body tensed by the second. Without nobody else around she didn't quite feel the need to hide behind a mocking smile as she usually did. That didn't mean she wanted to project her worries though. Taking a deep breath, she tried to get rid of some of the tension building up and to try and reassure herself. She could do this, they both would.

"Of course, but you know I can take care of this right? I took all the necessary precautions to keep myself safe. Just make sure you don't get yourself pushed into a corner, alright?"

Naruto just grinned slightly at her stubborn nature before nodding. "I can't promise anything, you know I don't trust that pirate as far as I can throw him. Though that would probably not be the right expression to use in this case." Stretching his arms behind in neck in his usual nervous manner seemed to make Robin smile a little.

"I understand. Just don't make it any more difficult for yourself than it has to be."

Naruto gave her a grin that didn't really reassure her but the both of them knew they would do whatever was necessary.

That didn't mean they had to like it though.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"Mister Black, observe from the roof." Without even a glance at his face Crocodile carried a bloodied king through the hallways, having Robin follow behind him.

Nefertari Cobra groaned and was clearly in pain as he was dragged across the floor by the pirates hook. It was a pitiful sight, one that only touched him because it was the father of a certain blue haired friend of his. Despite that though there was nothing he could, or was willing to do in this situation. The risk was too high.

Not answering Crocodile and knowing that Robin wouldn't be in any danger quite yet he swiftly disappeared from sight and made his way onto the roof of the palace. From his position he could see the chaos reigning over the city. The preparations of people desperately trying to save their country from the wrong enemies. For a moment his thoughts wandered and he couldn't help but wonder how this place would have been had Crocodile never interfered the way he had. The people were passionate and culture was abound even now despite the poverty and lack of water. It didn't last long though before he heard Vivi's voice close to the edge of the castle and he was distracted once more. He could briefly hear Vivi and Chaka, whom he could recognize from Crocodiles plans as acting captain of the royal guard, discussing something.

He didn't have much time to listen before both Robin, Nefertari Cobra and Crocodile through the doors onto the terrace of the castle. Without another moment of rest for the king he was pinned to the wall by his arms and left to hang. The man was of no interest to Crocodile no longer as he turned to face the princess.

"PAPA!" Her desperate cry rang through the air almost as loudly as the royal guards call for his majesty. The man in question had trouble lifting his face after hearing the voice of his daughter. Crocodile only smirked widely with amusement.

"Well Princess, You've come all this way. Yet what did you hope to accomplish?" The man drawled condescendingly while Vivi stared in shock at the state her father was in. She seemed to be ignoring Chaka who was ordering Crocodile to step away from the king behind her.

Naruto watched impassively as he could see the anguish grow in Vivi's expression. For a moment he turned to look at Crocodile and focused on the man. Oddly ashamed of himself, yet not allowing it to Blindsight himself.

Robin notice from the corner of her eyes and frowned lightly but didn't react in any other way, focusing on the situation in front of her for the moment.

"The only reason you even got here Miss Wednesday," The man continued without a care. "Is because of that group of pirates, is it not?" The implications Crocodile was making weren't lost on Vivi as her frustration grew.

"WHERE IS LUFFY!" Vivi's shrill voice popped Naruto's ear immediately and he went to cover them in a split second. Man that girl had as set of lungs! It didn't help that she yelled another denial not moments later when the man implied having gotten rid of Luffy.

For another moment Naruto kept his ears covered only removing his hands when it seemed his eardrums wouldn't be exploding at random moments. When he rejoined the discussion, not that he was really participating at the moment, it seemed to have shifted towards a more serious subject. One that both interested him and disgusted him.

"Where is Pluton!"

The king's eyes immediately cleared up as the man heard that horrible name. The pain seemed to no longer bother him as a more important task stood before him.

"How do you know that name?!"

"HAHAHAHA, so it is here. Pluton the ancient weapon, said to be able to make an entire island disappear with one use." The man spread his arms wide as if imagining the power that he would soon obtain. "I can build the _strongest_ military country here!"

The king briefly glanced at both Robin and Naruto before closing his eyes tightly and clenching his fists, despite the pain. Almost as if realizing how perilous the situation might really be.

"A weapon?" Naruto could briefly hear Vivi murmur in confusion. While Chaka behind her wondered if it was passed down throughout the royal family.

"If I have that power UTOPIA will become reality!" A wide smile spread across Crocodile's face in excitement. His cigar moving to the corners of his mouth.

The king's eyes reopened and a fierce glare was turned towards the government sanctioned pirate. " The world government would never allow that!" As if trying to pin Crocodile in place the man's determination increased even further. "I would never allow that."

But unaffected by the kings very impressive statement Crocodile smirked as if having expected it. Though knowing King Cobra's reputation, that might actually be the case. "Hmm that's how it goes.." Casually moving a few paces towards the man he casually blew some of the smoke from his cigar into Cobra's face, forcing the man to turn his face away.

"This afternoon at 4 o'clock, approximately 30 minutes from now a very powerful bomb will be swallowing up everything within a range of about 5 kilometers." Seeing the growing horror on all three Arabastans his smirk only grew. "Well considering the fight should be starting soon not much should be left over either way."

"WHAT HAVE THESE PEOPLE EVER DONE TO YOU, YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER" Vivi's pale face and pants piercing through the air. Chaka held her back from attacking Crocodile but it was a near thing.

Naruto watched the ongoing silently. Strangely enough not feeling the need to cover his ears this time. He felt the pain was almost appropriate to the situations, as if it was what he deserved for watching, and he wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment. Silently he vowed to do something about that bomb if he had the time. It would probably be one of the only things he might be able to do, he had an inkling as to where Crocodile probably would have placed it.

"If…" The almost silent murmur of the king brought back everyone's attention to the subject at hand. Crocodiles arrogant smirk only returned after Vivi's little outburst had seemed to bore the man. Everything was going according to plan.

"If I take you there will you stop the bomb?" Even as he grounded out the question the man realized his position and sighed loudly, knowing he would have to.

"AS EXPECTED OF THE FAIR KING COBRA, you know your job." Waving for Robin to release the man binds, Crocodile roughly picked the man up before moving to drag him back inside. Before the man could take so much a step though Naruto stood from his squatting position as the gates to the palace terrace flung open. He took a deep breath in preparation and hardened himself.

"RELEASE THE KING NOW!" The group of four men repeated loudly. Naruto could recognize them as the special guards, also known as the duck claw squad. Honestly a group that did have above average training but weren't too impressive for the grand line.

There were four men each wearing the same Arabastan outfit. Though their body sizes seemed to differ tremendously.

Barrel was very fat, using an mace as a weapon. While their leader, Hyota seemed the typical buff type with a beard and holding one sided sword. Brahm, whom Naruto had heard didn't usually talk, was a relatively small man compared to the other, and was using two pole-arms. And lastly the longest of the bunch was Arrow, with a very pointed chin, he was wielding a double-edged sword.

The entire group seemed to be ready to attack but Naruto didn't have to watch for long to see how this would turn out. For a moment he wondered if he could help them survive before deciding that it depended on how Crocodile would act. Maybe he could do it for Vivi if the opportunity presented itself, but for now he got ready.

As soon as the men attacked he moved to intercept them. He ignored Vivi's gasp and murmur of 'Naruto' before turning back to smirk at Crocodile. "I think you can take the ol'king up on his invitation now. Even now the clock is ticking." The man just clicked his tongue briefly as if disappointed before turning to face Robin.

"Mister Black, keep them from following. We're going Miss All Sunday" Without another glance the three of them moved into the castle and the door closed behind them. With the confirmation of Vivi actually remembering him he turned to face her from where he was standing in their way. He could see she was about to say something, tears in her eyes from all of the frustration that had continued to build up once more.

"CROOOOOOCOOOOOOOODILE!" Without a single warning a shadow appeared from the distance. Naruto could see Luffy flying on Pell's back and they were moving in their direction at high speeds. Keeping his eye on the unpredictable captain he jumped away from his confrontation with the four guards with a wide grin pointed at the group.

Without glancing Vivi's way he rushed at the half dying soldier trying to force their way past him. Without further ado he forced another 4 pills into the mouths of each soldiers mouth before swiftly avoiding their coordinated attack and moving to stand behind the group.

He couldn't help but grin in amusement as he watched Luffy comically spray Crocodile with water before Pell and Luffy pushed the man of the ledge during their flight. Seemingly taking their battle away from the castle.

Naruto didn't know what the captain was planning but at least he was actually thinking for once. Leaving that fight for what it is, he nodded discreetly to Robin. She smiled slightly before pulling the king with her as he lead her towards the poneglyph, hopefully the right one.

When that was all settled he focused on his own four opponents. He swiftly maneuvered himself in between the group and hit each man at a pressure point to have them lose consciousness. Smooth and effective. He tried to make it look excessively aggressive as he could, hoping the last guard wouldn't catch on and almost smiled when he could almost feel the anger burning within Chaka. It didn't help that he was smirking as if this was his favorite past-time.

Almost as if he had predicted it, Chaka rushed to attack him in his anger and quickly activated his devil fruit. It became clear that the man had eaten the inu-inu no mi, Model: Jackal. Almost as If scripted both royal guards Pell and Chaka had eaten fruits based on the guardians of this country.

Unbothered by all of this Naruto intercepted the attack calmly blocking the man's sword with his kunai. It was a heavy hit and he had to parry the force away before the kunai would break. But while the man was in another league compared to the group of four he'd just fought, he didn't have the speeds, strength and calmness to compete with Naruto. The man had years of experience to access but in his anger he was making basic mistakes and Naruto was using them to his leisure.

He kept on parrying the man's sword until the opportunity came for him to return the favor. Chaka had overextended his sword in a large arc over his head and with Naruto's speed it would take the man too much time to be able to block his next move.

He was about to knock the man out when a familiar figure stepped foolishly in between them. He immediately shifted his attack to only scratch the surface of her cheek. Realizing quickly that with the weight of Chaka's sword he wouldn't be able to avoid hitting Vivi he pulled he down by the hair and blocked the sword with his arm. Gritting his teeth as it cut deeply into his arm, he managed to lock his muscles and gather some chakra to protect his arm from major damage but he wouldn't be using it anytime soon.

Having avoided that disaster he didn't take another moment to gather some distance between them before failing to hold back a temper he hadn't even realized he was holding back.

"Are you crazy Vivi, what the hell was that!?" Not even censuring his mouth he let out a few swearwords before sighing deeply and squatting down for a moment. Purposely ignoring the surroundings for a moment he grabbed a loose bandage and began wrapping it tightly around his arm to staunch the blood. It would stop bleeding soon and start healing as his wound always did, but he wouldn't het much use out of that arm for a while to say the least. It was a nasty place to have wound and he could feel that the bone might a cracked just a little due to the direct impact and the fact he wasn't focusing on much besides not losing his arm.

"Excuse me!?" Vivi returned just as hotly while he was ignoring her. "I was trying to stop you guys from fighting but oh no, nobody listens!" The frustration seemed to be getting to her as well.

"Besides what the hell are you doing Naruto!"

The use of his name had him looking up at her. He could see tears appearing in her eyes and could feel his temper fly away at the sight of them. He sighed before standing up, tying up the knots for his wound before turning to face her properly. Giving the teen a sardonic grin he held out his arm.

"What does it look like Vivi?" He knew his grin was anything but friendly at the moment but that was the picture he was trying to portray. Vivi didn't seem to take notice of it though and looked straight into his eyes.

"Does it look like I'm here to play games and make friends." His voice hardened out as his stance became a bit more defensive and dismissive. Vivi just kept staring at him for a moment before suddenly smiling.

 _What?_

"Naruto" With an almost gentle voice she took a step forward and as if threatened Naruto took an equivalent step back, making her stop as well. She frowned slightly before standing there.

"Naruto, you know what everyone said when I told them?" Naruto frowned, that was something he didn't really want to know if he was honest. It couldn't be anything good, but then why was she smiling? Chaka stood in the background looking confused but almost as if grateful for Naruto having stopped him he was watching his princess take over the situation.

The man noticed that Mr. Black and Vivi knew each other. But he didn't know why, did they meet when she was undercover in the organization? If so how and why was a man known for his absolute loyalty to Crocodile acting like this?

"You know. Zoro was suspicious of you." She had to hold back a smile when she saw a bit of hurt bleed through Naruto's expressive blue eyes. She'd noticed that while the fox was extremely good at hiding his feeling when he was around them they just weren't to be hidden. As if they had some sort of secret code that let them access further that the shallows that was Naruto's mind. It was fascinating but also heartwarming to know that they were only a few out of a very select group of people to be allowed in. Even if at times it didn't quite seem that way.

"But it didn't take us long at all to figure out why you left." Ignoring the surprise on his whiskered face she continued on. Huh he had whiskers. "Remember what you said to Ace?" She couldn't help but giggle at the put off expression she could glimpse. Yeah he remembered.

Naruto had just known that was going to come back at it at some point.

"We figured you had someone you wouldn't leave behind. I guess Miss Sunday is someone important to you?" Figuring that since they knew already it wouldn't matter he nodded. Vivi just smiled.

"Even Zoro had to admit he didn't particularly want you to leave. He just didn't want to put you in a position where you had to choose and took on a neutral position. If anything we all agreed on one thing." Naruto couldn't help but remember that first day he met Vivi as a fox. She and Nami held the same evil smiles they had worn when they had essentially 'kidnapped' him aboard as she did now. He couldn't help but feel slightly nervous of the teen. "Uhh do I get a say in this?" He asked waveringly.

She just shook her head with that horribly scary angelic smile, "Nope. We decided that after this we would definitely drag your ass back to the ship. And you don't get to say anything about it."

That wasn't what Naruto was expecting.

Like _at all._

Really how do you react to something like that.

For a moment he just stared at the princess before he finally started to think again. It didn't take very long for the one thing to happen that he couldn't even seem to hide as a fox. His skin reddened down from his neck up to his ears. It wasn't very noticeable but well someone was sort of used to it by now.

"Hahaha, really? If there was any doubt then I guess that's it."

If anything that just made him feel more embarrassed but yeah. He was about to retort when he heard a pair of footsteps steadily closing in from a distance.

"Vivi!" He could see the rebellion leader Kohza make his way to where they were standing. Not really feeling up to watching drama enfold, he moved to turn away. Or at least tried to before his arm was grabbed an he was pulled back to where he was standing.

Sighing deeply he turned to face the blue haired teen who seemed to have a knack for grabbing him. He raised an eyebrow but she just stuck he tongue out at him before turning back to her childhood friend.

"Kohza! Why are you here?!" The man stopped in front of her, briefly locking eyes with their interlocking arms before frowning lightly. Naruto couldn't help but snicker a little. The man's glare was impressive but nothing he took notice of.

"Vivi where is the king? I need to speak with him, we need to get him to stand down!" It seemed the man didn't yet know the truth about anything. Sighing deeply he pulled his arm away from the princess before sternly turning away again. He had a job to do. Several in fact.

"Vivi." She turned to him, taking notice of the change in tone and seeing his serious attitude.

"Why don't you summarize the situation to this idiot and move on. If you want this city to stay alive I suggest looking at the clocktower. Seems the appropriate size." He began to walk towards the door. Before she could say anything else he turn towards her one last time with a slightly sad smile. "About what you said before, I am grateful. But don't expect it to be easy. We know what we did and we don't intend to return. This world is a more cruel place than you think and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Just be careful okay?"

For a moment it seemed as if she was going to react but in the end she settled for a sharp nod before turning to face Kohza and swiftly explaining the situation. Naruto didn't even have to stay to know that the man would believe her, given their longtime relationship and his infatuation, he honestly didn't expect anything else.

Running swiftly through the hallways he was hoping he hadn't spent too much time. He could faintly recognize the feel of Robin and began to navigate his way through the castle. They wouldn't have long before somebody followed behind. Whether Crocodile, the marine or some other person. Luckily it didn't take him long to find her and the king sitting in what looked to be a tomb. Naruto could see the wonder hidden in Robin's eyes even with the poneglyph standing in the middle of the room.

Briefly he tried sensing Crocodile and noticed the pirate was still busy fighting Luffy. They were close by, probably just outside of maybe having entered the building at some point. But they should have a bit of time.

"Hey Robin." She turned around with a more loose expression on her face before a blinding smile appeared. Almost uncaring of any bystanders and Naruto could see Cobra was surprised. But he too felt more relaxed without the shichibukai hanging about during this crucial moment.

"So How old is this building?" Naruto asked curious about the beautiful yet clearly old tomb. It was kept in an amazing state but he could see the wear on the art works on the wall and the colors were fading at a lot of places.

Robin held out her hand to touch one of the walls before looking upwards at the giant mural painted on the ceiling. A lot was slowly chipping off but for her estimates she knew it was in a wonderful state. Really Arabasta was a wonderful country for caring about their history like that. She turned to face Naruto.

"I'm estimating approximately 4000 years." Naruto whistled with amazement. "That's a long time." He turned towards the king looking thoughtful. "You guys must really care about your history." He said trailing the thought Robin had.

The kings looked surprised but recovered quickly and looked around briefly with a strained expression. "I do not know what exactly this place is. But it has always been passed down that it is important and should be taken care of and hidden away." Naruto nodded in agreement before looking at Robin.

They shared eye contact and Robin nodded. She'd memorized everything the poneglyph said unchanged. Now it was his turn. Turning back to the king Naruto looked at the man for a moment before deciding he didn't care. The man was as honorable as they came.

Leaving the man alone Naruto moved to stand next to Robin in front of the mural. Hopefully this would be it.

Everything they had been working towards for the last three years.

"Good luck" Robin whispered before he moved his hand to touch the poneglyph.

Without a moment to spare he felt the same sensations he'd felt years ago. His eyes began to glow a fiery red while the same hue began to spread from his hand across the poneglyph. A strange frustration began to fill him up along with a desire to fix it. His thought became hazy yet unerringly clear and slowly the encryptions began to leave the mural to float across the room.

Different patterns were swimming across the chamber dancing amongst one another. One by one he recalled each of them to place them back on the poneglyph. The itch becoming progressively less with every glyph he returned.

Once they had all returned he took a step back and the poneglyph stopped glowing. Seemingly settling into its new state. Strangely enough this felt right to Naruto, as if this was its original state. The way it should be. It was almost as if he could feel the satisfaction radiating from the material itself.

It took a little while for the glow to fade from his eyes. But as soon as his eyes returned to their normal sky blue self, he couldn't help but collapse to the ground.

"Naruto!" Robin moved to catch him. While she helped, he too steadied himself on the ground. He felt okay though.

"I'm fine Robin. Just tired. I think this just take a lot of energy." He sat there for a few moment before feeling steady once more. After a few more minutes he felt good enough to stand back up, his energy slowly replenishing. Not immediately but enough that he was in no more danger of fainting.

Robin seemed relieved that he was alright and that this didn't go as it had when they were kids. She acted brave but if she had to get both her and an unconscious Naruto out of here, she didn't thinks she would succeed. Knowing he was fine now, Robin moved to read the newly rearranged poneglyph.

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto groaned, Oh yeah the old man was there as well. Well he obviously wasn't gonna tell him anything. Ignoring the man Naruto went to sit next to the other side of the door where he could see the entire room. Despite being fine he was a little tired, being tired didn't make him any less cautious though and he definitely didn't miss the approach of a certain person moving through the hallways.

"So this is the "true history" then, Nico Robin?"


End file.
